A Night To Forget
by jbr12476
Summary: Sara chaperones a dance and finds a dead body
1. Default Chapter

AUTHOR: Jennifer Ransdell

Summery: G/S - Sara is chaperoning a dance and finds a dead body

Rating:PG (PG13 later chapters)

Disclaimer: I own nothing with CSI but I do love me some Grissom & Sara

Feedback: I certainly love a good review!

"Sara, please, I'm begging you. I just looked on the calendar and you have Friday night off."

"Catherine, I don't know. I never went to a school dance, so I'm not really the best person to do this."

Catherine was trying to talk Sara into chaperoning a dance at Lyndsey's school. Catherine was originally signed up to do it but since Ecklie "promoted" her to swing shift supervisor weeks earlier she couldn't get off. She had cornered Sara in the locker room and was all but on her knees begging Sara to take her place. Her initial reaction had been to say no but the look on Catherine's face made her pause. Catherine sensing the hesitation proceeded to state her case.

"All the more reason for you to do this Sara. You know, kinda like reliving your childhood. See what you missed out on."

"Why can't your mom do it?"

"Sara, no 12 year old wants there grandmother at their school dance!" Catherine could tell that Sara still wasn't convinced and decided to go for broke. "Look, Lyndsey and I have been having some issues lately. She's been acting out at home. I've been called to her school 3 times in the last month to talk to her teachers about her attitude and a couple of months ago, during the Perez case, I got a call to come pick her up from the police station for hitchhiking. Hitchhiking, Sara!"

"My god Catherine" Sara said stunned.

"I know, scared me to death, and I freaked on her." Catherine shook her head and grimaced.

"What did you do?" Sara asked, surprised that she was genuinely interested in what Catherine had to say.

"I brought her down to the morgue and showed her one of the dead bodies. Then I asked her if she got it now. Not one of my proudest moments."

Sara's eyes widened in shock.

"Sara, I need somebody that can see through any lies a 12 year old can throw at them, doesn't take things at face value and can watch someone without looking like their watching them. I need an investigator, and since Brass sticks out like a sore thumb, you are my next logical choice. And you're also the only one with Friday night off."

Sara opened her mouth to say no but "Okay" came out instead. _Wait a minute, who said that?! Was that me?! Take it back Sidle, take it back!_ But once Sara saw the look on Catherine's face she knew there was no backing out. The two of them had been getting along a lot better and Sara was actually beginning to consider her a friend. _Why not, who's it gonna hurt._ "Just let me know when and where and I'll be there."

Catherine was so relieved that she shrieked and pulled Sara into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate this."

"You so owe me." Sara smiled.

"I know, I'll get that information for you before I leave tonight, and Sara, I really mean it, thank you."

As Catherine turned to leave a thought struck Sara. "Umm...Catherine...what am I supposed to wear?"

Catherine stopped at the door and turned around. Sara noticed that she had a mischievous glint in her eye. "You just leave everything to me." And with that Catherine walked out of the locker room, leaving Sara standing there.

Sara leaned back and proceeded to beat her head against her locker. _How did I get myself into this?_

It was Friday and Sara was waiting for Catherine to bring her the dress that she'd picked out for her to wear to Lyndsey's dance. It started at 6:30 and Sara wanted to be ready to go early so she could meet Lyndsey outside when her grandmother dropped her off. Sara was in the kitchen when she heard the knock on her door. She opened it to a smirking Catherine.

"Why do you look like the cat that swallowed the canary?"

"No reason," Catherine said as she handed the bags she was holding over to Sara. "Try it on, now. I want to make sure everything fits." Actually Catherine just wanted to see Sara's reaction to the dress.

"O..kay," a skeptical Sara said. As she made her way to her bedroom she yelled out, "How much do I owe you for all this?"

"Don't worry about it. You're doing me a huge favor by doing this for me tonight. This is my way of saying thanks." _This is also my way of getting you in a sexy dress. Too bad Grissom isn't going to see it._ Catherine chuckled to herself. Oh well, she'd given strict instructions to her mom to take a picture of Lyndsey and Sara together before the dance. _I'll make sure he sees this picture if I have to tape it to my forehead._

"How's it going in there?" Catherine yelled.

Sara was staring at the reflection in her mirror. It had its mouth wide open. _What the hell! There's NO WAY I'm wearing this to a junior high dance._ The dress was a floor length black silk halter dress that was cut very low. Even by Catherine's standards. And there was a dangerously high slit that showed almost all of Sara's left leg. As she turned to see the back Sara gasped. The front wasn't the only thing low cut. The back of the dress stopped at the end of Sara's spine, revealing a well-toned back. _This cannot be what I'm supposed to wear. She must have picked up the wrong dress. Yeah, that's it. I'll go show her and she'll tell me it's a mistake._

"Umm...Catherine..." Sara said as she came out of her bedroom. "I think you brought me the wrong dress."

Catherine, who had been pacing the small living room in Sara's apartment, looked up at the brunette as she walked in, _Oh my god. I am a genius!_ "Sara, you look absolutely beautiful! I can't believe that's you in that dress."

"Catherine, you brought the wrong dress right?"

"No, that's the one I picked out for you."

"But, I can't wear this to a junior high school dance. Hell, I don't think I could wear this to the playboy mansion!"

Catherine ignored her, "Turn around and let me see the back."

"Catherine, there is NO back! I can't wear a bra with this."

"That's the point, where are the shoes?" Catherine asked.

"I left them on my bed, Catherine are you listening to me?" Sara asked as Catherine ran to Sara's room and came back with the shoe box.

"Here, I want to see what these look like with the dress." Catherine said as she handed Sara the black, strappy, open toed, 3 inch heels.

Sara shook her head no, "I'll break my neck in those!"

"Sara, put.them.on" Catherine all but growled.

Sara knew there was no way she was going to get out of this without putting on those shoes. "Fine," she said as she slipped them on.

Catherine stood there admiring her creation. _Mom's going to need to take more than one picture and I'll definitely need one of the back. Damn, why don't I have a video camera?_

"Yoo Hoo, Catherine," Sara said interrupting Catherine's thoughts. "I can't wear this."

"I disagree Sara. I think you're wearing it surprisingly well, especially since I had to guess at your measurements."

Sara stared wide eyed at her. "You mean you actually bought this dress for me?"

"Oh yeah, I bought it especially for you. And you look magnificent if I do say so myself. Look, I knew you would never buy anything like this for yourself. Every woman needs a dress like this just in case a special occasion arises. Now you do."

Sara walked back to her bedroom to look in the mirror again and Catherine followed her back. She stood in front of the mirror scrutinizing the dress like it was a piece of evidence. _Maybe Catherine's right. Maybe I do need to wear something like this out every once in a while._ Sara had to admit that the dress was very flattering on her.

Catherine could swear she could hear the wheels turning in Sara's head. When she saw her face soften she knew she had a winner.

"You really think I can pull this off?" Sara asked as she turned around in the dress.

"Most definitely. Now we've got to do something about your makeup and your hair."

Sara groaned as Catherine pulled out another bag full of makeup, hair products and styling aids.

"Now take that off and meet me in your bathroom. I'm going to show you how to apply all this stuff and what you need to do your hair." Catherine noticed Sara hadn't moved from her spot in front of the mirror. She clapped her hands, "Move it!"

Sara jumped and started getting out of the dress. "You know, you would've made a great drill sergeant." Sara mumbled.

It was almost six o'clock and Sara was standing back in front of the mirror. _Nobody would ever recognize me if they saw me now._ Her hair was straight with a flip to the ends. She had used some of the products that Catherine had left for her and they gave her hair some volume so it wasn't stick straight like she normally wore it. She had used the make up that Catherine said would compliment her features and she had to admit Catherine was right about that too. The smoky colored eye shadow really brought out her eyes and the rose colored lipstick matched her coloring perfectly. Sara almost didn't use the make up but the fear of Catherine made her change her mind. _Too bad the boys won't see me like this. They'd never believe it. Wonder what Grissom would think about me in this dress._ Sara sighed. _Too bad he'll never get to see it. Coward._ Sara looked at her clock, it was time to go. She picked up the black clutch bag that Catherine had bought with the dress and made sure she had her makeup and keys as well as her cell phone. As she closed her door and made her way to her Tahoe, she thought about going back in and getting her pepper spray. _Don't worry about it Sidle, how rowdy can 12 year olds get._

Sara really wished she'd brought her pepper spray.

"I know your feet must be tired cause you've been walking around in my head all night."

Sara looked down at Leon, the 12 year old boy who had been hitting on her for the last 10 minutes. "Leon..."

"Yeah sweetness," he said as he grabbed Sara's hand.

"If you don't let go of my hand, I'm going to handcuff you to that door over there."

"Oh yeah mama, I like it rough too." Leon said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Leon, I'm old enough to be your mother." Sara said pointedly.

"That's alright," Leon said as he moved closer to Sara, "I like my women with a little experience. How 'bout you and me go somewhere a little bit quieter. My mom's not coming to get me till 9:30."

"No! N.O." Sara almost yelled.

"Playing hard to get, I like that." Leon kissed the top of her hand and winked at her before walking away to meet some of his friends.

Sara resisted the urge to wipe her hand on the side of her dress. But, she couldn't stop the eye roll when she saw Leon pointing her out to his friends. Sara looked around the gymnasium and spotted Lyndsey with a group of girl friends. The little girl waved at her and Sara gave a small wave back. Lyndsey looked very pretty in her little pink dress. As Sara kept looking, she noticed that the boys were on one side and the girls were on the other. Every once in a while you'd see a girl point at a boy and then start to giggle or you'd see a boy point at a girl and start to laugh with his buddies. None of the kids had gotten up the nerve to ask the other to dance. Sara thought back to her younger days and wondered if she had ever gone to a dance would she be pointed at. _Probably not. Don't forget you were the nerd._ Sara noticed a little girl with mousey brown hair and glasses sitting all by herself, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here. _You'd probably be like that poor girl all by herself at the top of the bleachers. At least my mom never made me come to one of these._ Sara instantly felt a connection with this girl. She felt sorry for her, knowing exactly what she must be going through. Sara looked to make sure Lyndsey was still where she was supposed to be as she made her way very carefully up the bleachers.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked the little girl.

"No." she mumbled with her head down.

"My name's Sara, what's yours?"

"Melissa." She said shyly.

"Melissa, that's a nice name. Are you having fun?" Sara inquired.

"Not really, it's my first dance." Melissa whispered.

"I know what you mean. This is my first dance too."

"Really?" Melissa asked skeptically.

"Really, I never went to any of my school dances. I was too busy studying." Sara said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I wish I was at home, but my mom made me come here. She said I needed to make some friends."

"Would you like me to introduce you to my friend?" Sara asked, hoping to bring her out of her shell.

"Which one is she?" Melissa asked curiously.

Sara pointed out Lyndsey, "See that blonde girl in the pink dress. Her names Lyndsey. She's very nice."

"Do you think she'd like me?" She asked hopefully.

"I'm sure she would. Come on, I'll introduce you to her."

Sara and Melissa made there way down to Lyndsey and the group of girls she was hanging out with. "Hey Lyndsey, this is Melissa, would you mind if she hung out with you guys?"

Lyndsey shook her head no, "Of course not, In fact you can be our tie breaker. Who's cuter, Brad Michaels or Seth Fowler?"

Sara saw Melissa smile as she made her way over to the punch bowl. She was about to get her something to drink when she heard...

"Hey hot stuff, you looking for me?"

Leon. _Note to self. NEVER leave home without pepper spray again._

It was 9:30 and the dance was over. Sara was walking Lyndsey out to her grandmother's car. "Did you have fun tonight?" Sara asked her.

"Yeah, I did," Lyndsey said excitedly, "I think Brad likes me!"

"Really," Sara asked intrigued, "And which one was Brad?"

Lyndsey rolled her eyes dramatically, "The cute one!"

Sara laughed, "Of course, the cute one. So what did you think of Melissa?"

"She was nice. She left to go to the bathroom and I didn't see her again, but she's going to sit with us at lunch on Monday."

"That's sweet Lyndsey. Well here's your grandmother." Before Sara knew what was happening Lyndsey hugged her.

"Thank you Sara, I'm so glad it was you instead of mom chaperoning tonight. She would have been all over me."

Sara hugged her back. "It was my pleasure Lyndsey, glad you had fun. Tell your mom I'll see her tomorrow."

"Okay," Lyndsey said as she got in the car. "Bye Sara," Lyndsey waved as the car pulled off.

Sara waved back before she went back inside to help the other chaperones clean up. _Catherine forgot to mention that._

As Sara walked out of the school she only had one thought..._I have got to get out of these shoes! My feet are going to be damaged for life!_ Sara was opening the door to her Tahoe when a flash of silver caught her eye. She looked to the front of the school and noticed something silver sticking out from one of the bushes. Curious, she walked towards it. _What the hell is that?_ As she moved closer she saw that it was a silver shoe. Sara looked over the bushes and nearly dropped her purse. She quickly got out her cell phone and dialed 911.

'Yes, this is CSI Sara Sidle. I'm at Thurman White Middle School located at 1661 Galleria Drive. I need EMS to this address." Sara carefully leaned over to feel for a pulse. She didn't find one. "Scratch EMS, I need Homicide Detective Jim Brass to meet me here. Thank you."

Dispatch told her that they would send Brass out ASAP and for her to secure the scene. Sara quickly went back to her Tahoe and got out her kit. She put on her gloves and carefully turned the body over so as not to disturb the scene.

_Oh Damn!_

It was Melissa.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sara was so startled to see Melissa's lifeless eyes staring back at her that she nearly tripped over her dress as she backed away quickly. _Deep breaths. That's right, in and out, in and out. Get it together Sidle._ Sara shook herself out of her initial shock and fell back into investigator mode. She took her camera out of her kit and began processing the scene. First thing she did was take in the scene around the body. _Right, body, not Melissa. Don't think of her, think of the job._ She saw no drag marks which meant that the body was dropped in that particular spot. _Click. Click._ There were no visual footprints around the body and the grass around the bushes was undisturbed, except for Sara's own footprints. _Click. Click._ She then moved on to do an initial observation of Melissa. There was bruising around her neck area. _Click. Click._ Sara could see faint scratch marks above the light bruising. She got out her ruler and placed it on Melissa's neck. _Click. Click._ Her dress was slightly hiked up but that looked to Sara because of how she was laying. _Click. Click._ Based on what Sara could see without moving the body, she felt confident there would be no signs of a sexual assault. _Thank god._ But Doc Robbins would be able confirm that once he examined her. Sara lifted up Melissa's hand and noticed skin under her fingernails. She went back to her kit for an evidence envelope. As she bent down to scrape under Melissa's nails, she heard the slamming of car doors and saw the red and blue lights of the patrol vehicles bounce off the side of the building.

"So what have we got?" Sara heard a gruff Jim Brass ask.

Sara stood up and turned around to face Brass. He looked her up and then down and then up again, stopping to look her in the eyes. She saw him working his jaw muscles like he really had something he wanted to say but was unsure of how it would be taken.

Sara raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Brass couldn't help the smirk on his face, "Oh nothing, I'm just wondering where you've got your sidearm in that dress. From what I can see, there would be nowhere for you to put it."

Sara smirked back at him, "You're just not looking in the right place. But if you must know, no I'm not packing heat tonight."

"Well at least I won't be shot for any thoughts I might be having. Has anyone ever told you that you have really long legs?"

Sara just shook her head, "No, I've never heard THAT one before."

Brass smiled then turned serious, "So what have we got here and why are you here? Isn't it your night off? Looking like that, shouldn't you be out on a hot date or something?"

"Or something, Catherine asked me to fill in for her as a chaperone at Lyndsey's dance. I was getting ready to leave when something caught my eye. I walked over here and found Melissa. It looks like she's been strangled. I noticed bruising around her neck." Sara said as she turned back to Melissa's body.

"Melissa?" Brass asked curiously.

Sara sighed, "Yeah, I felt sorry for her tonight, she was sitting all by herself, so I talked to her and then introduced her to Lyndsey. I guess they got along good because Lyndsey said she was going to eat lunch with them on Monday. Shit!"

"What is it?"

Sara looked around for her purse and found it on the ground by her kit, "I need to call Catherine and let her know what happened so she doesn't think it might be Lyndsey." Sara quickly dialed Catherine's number.

"Willows,"

"Hey Catherine,"

"Hey Sara, how did it go?" Catherine asked.

"It went good, Lyndsey was well behaved and I think she really had a good time. Be sure to ask her about Brad, the cute one."

Catherine laughed, "I'll be sure to do that."

Sara paused, "Catherine, that's not the only reason why I'm calling. They've found the body of a dead girl out here at Lyndsey's school." Sara heard Catherine gasp and continued on, "Actually, I found the body, and I just wanted to let you know not to worry if you heard it on the scanner somewhere. I made sure that Lyndsey got in the car with your mom, so she's at home safe. But you might want to wait and tell her about this when you can do it in person. Lyndsey and the girl that was killed ended up hitting it off tonight. They were supposed to eat lunch together on Monday. We also need you to get a statement from her, since the group of girls she was with was the last ones to see her."

"Damn. How much death can one little girl take? Catherine mumbled.

Sara knew Catherine was referring to Eddie's death. Lyndsey was much too young to have to deal with something like that and even though she and Melissa may have just met, you just never knew how this could affect someone Lyndsey's age, especially after losing a father.

"Thank you, Sara. Do they need any help out there? I mean it is your night off."

"I'm not sure, let me ask Brass." Sara pulled the phone away from her ear. "Hey Brass, Catherine wants to know if you need any help out here?"

"No, tell her I've got Grissom and Greg coming out. And if we need more, I'll call Warrick from swing shift." Brass yelled back.

"Don't worry Catherine, he says it's covered."

Catherine then had a thought, "Who's coming out there?"

"He said Grissom and Greg. If we need more help we'll call you guys." Sara asked puzzled. Catherine knew who worked nightshift.

_So, Grissom was going to get to see Sara in that dress after all. Hmmm. I bet that thought hasn't even crossed Sara's mind. Maybe I can call Brass and have him take a picture of the look on Grissom's face._

"Catherine? You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, well I won't keep you. I think I'm going to call to check on Lyndsey. Thank you Sara for keeping an eye on her."

Sara was about to continue processing when she saw a man that she recognized coming towards her. "Can I help you sir"

"Yes, you can start by telling me what's going on?"

"And you are?" Sara challenged.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Dr. Winstead. I'm the principal here."

Sara remembered seeing him at the dance. He was in his late forties, maybe early fifties and had on the standard principle wear. Ill fitting suit, tight white shirt and short tie that barely hit his belt. "Dr. Winstead, I'm Sara Sidle with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I was a chaperone here tonight. I'm sorry to inform you but we found one of your students in the bushes. It looks like foul play is involved."

"Oh my god! You mean dead? Which one?" he asked startled.

"I'm not sure, I met her tonight and I only got her first name, Melissa. I noticed when we walked in that all of the students and chaperones had to sign in. You wouldn't mind making me a copy of that would you? We're going to need to interview them about this."

"Not a problem Ms. Sidle. If you'll follow me, I've got a copy in my office. That's where I was coming from when I noticed the commotion."

Sara passed Brass as she was walking towards the building, "I'm going to follow Dr. Winstead inside to get a copy of all the attendees of tonight's dance."

"Thanks, I'll wait out here for the cavalry to arrive."

Brass watched as Sara followed Dr. Winstead inside. _Wow. Why is she single? Right, in love with boss. How could I forget that?_ He was having his officer's tape off the scene when he heard a familiar voice.

"Greg, I want you to observe and not touch anything unless I tell you to. You got that?"

"Got it boss, just like I got it the last time I came to a scene with you, and the time before that, and..." Brass heard Greg say. Brass chuckled to himself. _This is about to get interesting._ Gil Grissom was walking towards him with Greg following close on his heels.

"Hey Jim. What have we got?" Grissom asked when the made it to where Brass was standing.

_Well you've got a fine looking woman that you continue not to do anything about. Don't think I'll start with that_. "12 year old girl, found in the bushes. Appears to be strangled." Brass noticed Grissom wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. He was too busy looking at the crime scene. "Sara found the body and has already processed most of it." _That'll get his attention._

Grissom's head spun around so quick Brass was surprised he didn't have whiplash. "Sara? As in Sara Sidle?"

"One and the same."

"It's her night off. She driving around looking for murder victims now?" Grissom wondered aloud.

Brass shrugged, "It seems Sara was filling in for Catherine tonight as a chaperone for Lyndsey's dance. She spotted the body and called it in."

Grissom was looking around, he didn't see Sara, "Well where is she?"

"She went inside with the principal to get the list of tonight's participants." _Don't worry, you can't miss her. Just keep a lookout for a tall, sexy, brunette._

"Thanks Brass, Greg follow me. We're going to take a look at the body. I want you to tell me what you see. We'll wait to take pictures since I'm not sure how far Sara got." Grissom and Greg moved over to the bushes and bent down over the body. They had there back turned to Brass when Sara came out of the school.

She came up beside Brass. "I see the cavalry has arrived. Here's the list. There was only one Melissa on it. A Melissa Graham. The principal, Dr. Winstead, is inside pulling her file now to get us some contact information." Brass nodded. "I'm going to fill the guys in on what's been done so far."

As Sara walked away Brass thrust the papers into the hands of the officer that was standing beside him. _There's no way I'm gonna miss this._

Sara made her way over to Grissom and Greg. "You guys need any help?" She said as she stood behind Grissom. Greg saw her first and dropped the tweezers he was getting ready to hand to Grissom.

Greg shut his eyes and mumbled, "Please don't let me wake up, please, oh please, oh please."

"Greg! What is wrong with you?" Grissom shouted, still oblivious to Sara's presence.

Greg slowly opened his eyes to a smirking Sara. He reached out and poked Sara in the arm. Sara eyed him suspiciously. "Just making sure you're not a figment of my imagination. See, in my fantasies, you look like that but when I reach out you, poof, disappear. Although, also in my fantasies there's no dead bodies or other people around. Just you, me and a hot tub." Greg wiggled his eyebrows.

Brass grinned, "Down boy. Gil, why don't you ask Sara what she's done so far." _Come on, work with me here._

Grissom leaned down to pick up the tweezers. "So what," _Is that bare leg that I see,_ "have you," _and it's attached to a nice set of curves,_ "done so," Grissom's gaze kept moving up, _Very nice chest and upper body,_ "far," _that Sara's head is attached to,_ "Sara." _Wait,_ "Sara?!"

Brass tried to cover his laughter by coughing. The look on Grissom's face was priceless.

Sara blushed. In all that was going on she forgot she was a little dressed up, and Grissom's reaction was unexpected.

"What are you doing here like that?" Grissom managed to croak out.

"You didn't get the memo. This is now the official uniform of all CSI's. I can't wait to see Nick and Warrick in there's" Sara teased.

Somehow, even that mental picture did nothing to take Grissom's thoughts off the woman before him. "Sara, you look..."

"Beautiful." Greg interjected.

Grissom broke his gaze away from Sara long enough to give Greg an irritated look. _I was going to say that you wanna be CSI._ "I was going to say cold."

Sara smiled at Grissom, who was still in shock at the sight before him. "You wouldn't happen to have a set of coveralls with you?"

"No, but here," Grissom said as he took off his jacket and put it around Sara's shoulders. "You can wear this until we get back to the lab."

Sara blushed again. _Thank god it's dark out._ "Thank you, that's very gallant of you."

When Grissom didn't say anything Greg leaned over to him, "That means polite."

"I know what it means, Greg." Grissom growled.

Sara thought it was time to save Greg. "So this is what I've done so far..."

Brass could hear Sara telling Grissom and Greg how far along she'd gotten in processing the scene as he walked to his car. _Catherine's gonna love this!_

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Brass pulled his phone off his belt and dialed Catherine's number as he opened his car door.

"Willows"

Brass didn't even announce himself, "You're not going to believe what I just witnessed."

"Let me guess, Sara in a gorgeous, revealing dress, looking like a million dollars, and one Gil Grissom falling all over himself to not show any emotion?" Catherine said smugly.

"Damn, how do you do that? Do you have a hidden camera somewhere?" Brass said as he looked around for any sign of the blonde.

Catherine laughed, "I wish, please tell me you got pictures."

"Sorry, no can do, but I will say that the night shift has one very perplexed supervisor who is trying not to look at one very elegantly dressed brunette's cleavage." Brass threw back at her.

"You're kidding me?!" Catherine squealed.

"Nope and she's wearing his jacket."

"What? Why is she wearing his jacket?" Catherine asked confused.

"He said she looked "cold", and then he offered her his jacket. Although I guess offered is a strong word, more like he wrapped her up in it."

"Let me guess, Greg was ogling and Grissom didn't like it." Catherine hoped.

"You got it, you sure you don't have a camera somewhere? Oh, I gotta go." Brass said as he saw David, the assistant coroner pull up to the scene.

"No Jim, you cannot leave it like that! What else happened?"

"Sorry, David just got here. I'll fill you in on Act II when I get back."

"Act II? Jim what are you…" he heard Catherine say as he shut his phone. "Hey David, come with me, I'll show you where the body is."

"Hey Detective Brass," David said politely as he wheeled the gurney up onto the grass.

As they got closer to the body, Brass couldn't help but grin. Brass noticed that David was focused on the body until Sara stood up. _And action! _His eyes grew wide as he took in her appearance and he kept pushing the gurney, right into a kneeling Grissom's head.

"What the …" Grissom wondered as his hand went up to feel where the gurney had connected with the back of his skull.

"Dr. Grissom! I am so sorry, "A red faced David professed, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's okay David," Sara said encouragingly, "His heads a lot harder than it looks."

Grissom narrowed his eyes at Sara, but she only winked at him. _Danger Will Robinson, Danger!_ Grissom cleared his throat, "David, why don't you go ahead and take the body. Have Doc Robbins call me when he's finished with the autopsy. We're pretty sure how she died but I want to see if Al can tell me anything else."

"Sure thing Dr. Grissom." David said as he started to move the body.

Grissom looked at Sara and noticed she was deep in thought. He took a moment to steal a look at her. _I don't know how she's doing it, but she's making my jacket look incredibly sexy. I'll never wash it again._ As his eyes made there way to her face, he noticed that determined look and couldn't wait to see her eyes light up once she figured out the puzzle.

_Something's not right? Something's missing?_ Then it hit her. "Guys, you didn't happen to find her glasses, did you?"

Grissom and Greg looked at her puzzled.

"Tonight at the dance, she was wearing glasses. I don't see any around here." Sara explained.

Greg spoke up first, "Do you think that the killer took them with him as some kind of souvenir or trophy?"

"I don't know, but this can't be the primary scene. When I found her, the only footprints were mine and the vegetation was undisturbed." Sara said as she looked around.

"What goes up must come down." Grissom remarked as he noticed the window on the side of the building above the victim. "You think someone could push a body out that window?"

Sara's eyes lit up, "Let's go find out, shall we." She grabbed her kit and headed towards the entrance to the school.

David was still standing there watching Sara, "Hey David, the body." Grissom pointed out as he and Greg grabbed there kits and followed Sara's path.

Sara was already inside the school and was trying to figure out which room had the window they were looking for. She stopped in front of a restroom labeled men. _This looks about where the body was found._ She stuck her head in, "Hello." Certain there was no one there she walked in. There was a window about 3/4th's of the way up the wall. It opened out with a latch that one would have to turn. _That's our window._ She heard Grissom and Greg make there way into the bathroom.

"Looks about right, what do you think?" she asked Greg.

"I would say so. Hey Brass!" Greg yelled. Grissom and Sara flinched at Greg's yell. It seemed to amplify in the empty bathroom.

"Hey, Sparky," Brass returned from outside the window.

"There's no way a 12 year old kid could reach that window without standing on something. Greg, hand me my dusting powder, maybe, our killer was in too much of a rush to forget about his fingerprints." Sara could only hope.

Greg took out Sara's powder and brush and handed them to her. As she began to dust for prints, Grissom was searching the stalls. He noticed something behind one of the toilets. He took out his camera and started taking pictures. _Click. Click._ "Hey, Sara, our victim wouldn't of happened to have been wearing these tonight, would she?" Grissom made his way out of the stall towards her.

Sara paused and looked at the glasses. "Those are Melissa's," she said sadly.

Grissom looked at her over the top of his glasses. Sara turned back to the window sill. "Don't worry Grissom, I just met her tonight. She was sitting by herself so I went up to her, talked to her for a few minutes then I introduced her to Lyndsey. No big deal."

"Sara…" he started.

"Bingo!" Sara cried triumphantly. She could see the beautiful outline of four fingerprints on the window sill. A thumb print appeared on the knob of the window. She grabbed her tape and began to lift the fingerprints. "So here's what I think happened, the killer somehow lures her in here, there's a struggle based on the fact that her glasses were knocked off, he strangles her with some sort of ligature, then he rolls out the window and dumps her body."

Grissom continued, "And since were in the boy's bathroom, I think it's safe to say it was a male adult. It's obvious no boy could reach that window without standing on something. Plus, this is the bathroom right across from the gymnasium where the dance was being held. It would look suspicious if a woman was spotted coming out of here."

"Also it would be difficult for a boy to lift an 80-90 lb girl and then throw her out the window," Greg added.

Brass walked into the bathroom. "I just got an address for Melissa Graham. You guys up for a drive?'

Grissom nodded, "Sara and I will come with you. Greg I want you to start dusting for prints on every viable surface you can find. We're going to need to start ruling people out."

Greg opened his mouth, "But…"

"But what Greg?" Grissom turned and looked at him.

"This place is huge!"

"You're right," Grissom saw Greg relax, "Sara, leave Greg your powder. He's going to need it."

Sara grinned and handed a stunned Greg her powder. "Have fun Greggo," she said as slapped him on the shoulder.

"This is so wrong on so many levels." Greg muttered under his breath as he tried to decide where to begin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ride to Melissa Graham's house only took a few minutes. She lived less than five miles from the school. Sara pulled her Tahoe behind Brass' vehicle. She couldn't help the feeling of sadness that washed over her. It was a modest ranch style house with a little front yard. _I hate this part. We're getting ready to tear someone's world apart._ Sara got out of the car and headed up the front steps behind Grissom and Brass.

Brass pushed the doorbell. After a few seconds he pushed it again. He was getting ready to knock when the door opened. A woman in her mid forties opened the door and yawned. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, ma'am, does Melissa Graham live here?"

"She does," the woman said confused, "Oh my God! What time is it? I dropped her off at a school dance and she was supposed to call me to come pick her up because I had a headache and was going to take a nap."

"Ma'am, are you her mother?' Brass asked trying to calm her down.

"I am, wait, who are you? What does this have to do with Melissa?" she asked noticing Brass' badge.

"I'm Detective Jim Brass with the Las Vegas Police Department. Can my colleagues and I come in?"

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, I just fell asleep, she was supposed to call me. I swear this is the first time this has ever happened. Her father is out of town and I had to work a double shift today. If you can tell me where she is, I can promise you this will never happen again." Mrs. Graham pleaded.

"Mrs. Graham, I'm sorry to inform you of this, but your daughter was found murdered outside of her school tonight."

"No, no, you're wrong, it wasn't my daughter." She said backing away from the door. "You're wrong! I just fell asleep! That's it I'm still dreaming, I'll wake up in a minute and this will all be a bad dream."

"Mrs. Graham, I wish it was but it's been confirmed that the body found is that of your daughter."

Mrs. Graham looked at the three of them and leaned her back against the door. She started to sob uncontrollably and slid down the door to the floor. "No," she cried, "No! She was just going to a dance. Who would do this?" She said between sobs.

Brass gingerly grabbed her arm and led her to the living room couch. "Mrs. Graham, I am very sorry for your loss." He handed her his handkerchief, "I know this is the worst possible time, but I need to ask you a few questions." He continued when she nodded. "Did your daughter have any enemies? Was there anyone bothering her?"

She shook her head, "No, Melissa was a gentle soul. She loved school, but she didn't have many friends. I…I made her go to the dance tonight. Oh my god! If I hadn't of made her go this wouldn't have happened. What have I done?!" she cried.

"So there wasn't anything going on that she told you about? Something that may have been bothering her?"

"No. Nothing. She…she loved to learn. She even tutored some students at school. I was worried about her. I wanted her to make some friends. I wanted her to be a kid, to know that it was okay to not be consumed by school work, have a little fun." She sniffed. "Oh god! How do I tell her father? He's out of town for work, and won't be back until Monday. This can't be happening!"

Sara spoke up, "Mrs. Graham, my name is Sara Sidle. I'm a criminal investigator with the Las Vegas crime lab. I was at the dance tonight and met your daughter. She did make some new friends. She was having fun."

"What were you doing there?" Mrs. Graham asked.

"I was a chaperone." Sara looked down at her hands.

"How could you let this happen to her?!" Mrs. Graham yelled. Sara looked up startled. "You work for the Sheriff's Department and you let some animal kill my daughter. Where were you? Huh? Where were you while my daughter was being killed Ms. Sidle?"

Sara was too shocked at Mrs. Graham's outburst to respond. _She's in shock, she's got to get her grief out some way. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault. Maybe if I say it enough I'll believe it. I have to get out of here._

Grissom too was shocked by Mrs. Graham's accusation, but he never let his gaze waver off of Sara. He could see the raw emotion, could see the guilt wash over her like a tidal wave. _I have to get her out of here._ Grissom and Sara stood at the same time. "Mrs. Graham, Ms. Sidle is not the one to blame for this. I promise we will do everything we can to catch the person responsible."

"I want you out of my house," Mrs. Graham said through clenched teeth at Sara.

When Sara made no movement to the door, Grissom put his hand on the small of her back and led her to it. "Sara…Sara," he gently turned her to face him and noticed her wide eyed stare. "Why don't you head back to the lab and start processing the prints you took from the window sill. I'll start looking through Melissa's room to see if we can find anything. Sara…" he said when she didn't respond, "Look at me." She brought her eyes up to meet Grissom's, "This was not your fault, understand?" She nodded her head. "I mean it Sara, you are not to blame, okay?" She nodded her head again. Grissom walked her to her car and opened her door for her. "Are you okay to drive?"

Sara stood there in shock, "If only I had paid attention. That's what I'm supposed to do. And I didn't see anything out of place, Grissom. I didn't…" she stopped abruptly. "She's right, I should have done something."

"No Sara, she's not right. She's in pain and wants to lash out at someone. You are not to blame." He said harshly to try to reach her.

"It's okay Grissom, I'm going to head to the lab and start running these prints through AFIS." She said as she got into the Tahoe. "Please relay to Mrs. Graham my condolences. I'll see you at the lab." She shut her door and drove off.

Grissom stood there and watched her taillights. He sighed and headed back into the house. As angry as he was that Mrs. Graham had lashed out at Sara, he also understood this reaction. _I can only hope Sara understands and won't take this to heart. Who am I kidding? Of course she will._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Grissom had been standing outside of Trace for 10 minutes watching Sara at the computer terminal waiting for AFIS to announce whether or not they had a match. She was lost in her own thoughts and didn't notice him. He was worried about her. He felt another person come and stand beside him.

"You going to take her off this case?" Brass asked.

Grissom shook his head, "No, she needs to do this. Not only for herself but for Melissa."

"You know this could be the case that breaks her. You willing to take that chance?"

"She's stronger than anyone gives her credit for. I'll make sure this doesn't break her." Grissom responded.

"And all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put humpty dumpty together again." Grissom raised an eyebrow at Brass. "What, you think you are the only one that can quote this crap?" Brass said as he challenged Grissom's glare.

"But Sara's got one thing that humpty dumpty didn't have." At Brass's inquisitive look he continued, "I'll be there to catch her if she falls."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Grissom walked away and headed towards the break room for some coffee. _I must need it if I'm saying things like that to Brass._ He was about to pour himself a cup when his pager went off. It was Doc Robbins. _Hopefully, he can tell us what we're looking for. I'll be damned if I'm going to let this one go on the board._ Grissom put the coffee pot down and headed to the morgue. He debated whether or not to let Sara come but immediately suppressed that thought. _She needs to do this._ He stopped by his office and paged Sara to meet him there. As he opened the door to the morgue he saw Doctor Al Robbins still staring at something on the body.

"What have you got for me Al?"

Doc Robbins got a pair of tweezers and pulled a black fiber from the wound in Melissa's neck. "I just found this," he said as he put it in an evidence envelope. "Maybe this will tell you what was used." He handed it to Grissom. "Before I tell you what else I've found, could you tell me if anything happened at the scene tonight?"

Grissom looked confused, "Why?"

"Well, David's been acting awfully strange ever since he got back. I was wondering if something…" Doc Robbins was interrupted by the arrival of Sara.

"Hey Doc."

Doc Robbins looked back at Grissom, "Never mind, I think I figured it out. Why Sara, you're looking very lovely this evening."

Sara smiled shyly, "Thanks Doc, I really think the lab coat pulls it all together."

Grissom was looking intently at Sara for any sign she might still be upset, but her guard was up now. _She hides it well. Too well._

Doc Robbins cleared his throat to get their attention, "Cause of death was asphyxia due to ligature strangulation." He lifted up Melissa's eyelids, "Petechial hemorrhaging of the eyes." He pointed to the brown colored dry leathery band around her neck, "Based on the impression from the ligature she was strangled from behind. The impression is horizontal at the same level of the neck. If it had been a manual strangulation there would be disc-like-finger-tip bruises."

"Doc," Sara asked, "Is the hyoid bone broken?"

"No. Usually on a post mortem exam, if a hyoid bone is fractured the death is considered a homicide from strangulation until proven otherwise. But, because the two halves of the hyoid do not fuse until the age of 30, the hyoid may not break in younger victims of strangulation. As is the case at hand."

"What type of ligature are we talking about?" Grissom asked.

"I can't tell you definitely, but based on the deep and narrow marks around the neck, it would indicate some form of cord or rope about an inch in width that may have been used. If there had been a broader shallower scar, then the instrument used would have most likely been caused by a tie or belt." Doc said again pointing at the bruising around the neck.

Sara pointed at the crescent shape marks around the bruising, "I collected some skin samples from underneath her fingernails. But based on those marks, I think it might be her own skin, where she was trying to remove the ligature from around her neck."

Doc shook his head, "I agree. This was a personal attack against this girl. The clinical sequence of a victim who is being strangled is one of severe pain, followed by unconsciousness, followed by brain death. To completely close of the trachea, 33 pounds of pressure is required. Brain death will occur in 4 to 5 minutes if strangulation persists. She never stood a chance," He added sadly. All three of them took a minute to understand what exactly this victim went through. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

"Thanks Doc," Sara said as she and Grissom walked away from the body and out of the morgue. She noticed something in Grissom's hand.

"What do you have there?"

Grissom forgot he had evidence in his hands, "Oh…Al pulled this out of the wound on her neck." He said as he held up the envelope.

Sara smiled, "So maybe the killer wasn't so smart after all."

"Maybe not. I'm going to run this to trace and see if we can figure out what kind of fiber this is. How's it going on the fingerprints?"

Sara shook her head, "No match as of yet, but I've got Greg watching the computer for me. He's to page me if we come up with anything."

"So how is our favorite dust bunny?" Grissom asked mischievously.

Sara chuckled as she remembered Greg's appearance when he made it back to the lab. He looked like he had taken a bath in the dust powder. _"You do know that you don't have to fingerprint yourself in order to get prints, right?" Sara asked when she noticed Greg. He had powder in his hair, on his shirt, pants and even on his shoes. "Not funny," he shot back. "I think I'm allergic to this. I kept sneezing and blowing this stuff all over the place." Sara laughed out loud at that remark. "You're not supposed to smell it Greg, you're supposed to print with it. Hey, is that my brush?" she asked looking at her once pristine dusting brush that now looked like someone had tried to use it on sandpaper. Before Greg could answer, her pager went off. "Here Greg, take a load off and watch this for me. If you get a hit page me." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get all the fun assignments," Greg mumbled._ "He survived, my brush on the other hand did not. You owe me a new brush."

Grissom raised his eyebrows challengingly, "I owe you a new brush?"

"Yes, YOU," she pointed at him. "You're the one that made him print the bathroom by himself. Tell me again why you did that?" _Come on you can admit it, you didn't like the other "dogs" in the pound eyeing me like a chew toy._ Sara stopped walking and turned towards Grissom.

He stopped and looked back at her with a playful gleam in his eye, "He needs the experience." _Experience my ass, he was eyeing you like a piece of, well can't say meat, so I'll go with broccoli. A piece of broccoli. The only hands I want on my broccoli are mine._

Sara's pager broke the friendly standoff. "Well what do you know, we got a match." She looked back up at Grissom.

"Keep me posted." _Will you be okay to do this?_

Sara took a deep breath. _I'm okay to do this._ "You got it."

Grissom watched her as she headed off to find Greg. He noticed that her shoulders were not slouched and she had a determined stride. _She'll be okay to do this._ He headed off to trace to find out just what the mystery fiber was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Got a winner for you," Greg said as soon as Sara walked in.

Sara looked at the screen, "You've got to be kidding me," she said intrigued. "I'll call Brass and have him bring him in." _Didn't see that one coming._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sara walked into the break room determined to have a cup of coffee. She saw Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes looking at a case file. It was spread out over the break room table. _God, I miss you guys._ "Hey compadres, what's up?" She received two, "Mmph's" She stood there watching two of her good friends. She missed working with them since they had both been moved to swing shift. "Shouldn't you guys be gone by now? Or did the powers that be come to their senses and put us all back together?"

"Yeah right," Warrick remarked with his head still in the file, "That'll happen." As he lifted his head he had to blink twice at the sight before him. "Damn." Sara smirked at him.

Nick heard this and looked at Warrick, "You find something?" he asked hopefully.

Warrick could only point at Sara leaning against the counter. Nick turned around and almost fell out of his chair, "Sara! What are you doing wearing that?!"

Warrick laughed to himself, _Big brother meet little sister all grown up._ "Come on Nick, I think Sara looks damn fine." It took all of his strength not to laugh out loud when Nick's head swiveled around to glare at him. "What? She does."

Nick turned back to Sara, "I thought you had the night off, what are you doing up here like…like…"

"Like what Nick?" Sara raised an eyebrow at him.

"Like that!" He pointed at her.

"What's wrong with the way I look, Nick?" Sara thought Nick was being very protective of her. It was sweet.

"Nothing, but Sara, you don't wear stuff like that." Nick finally got out.

"Girl, you had to have had help." Warrick chimed in.

"A friend helped me out." Sara said as she took a sip of her coffee.

Both Nick and Warrick looked at each other and said at the same time, "Catherine." Sara just smiled at the two of them.

"So what brings you in here dressed to kill?" Warrick started putting the photos from his and Nick's case back in the file.

"I came across a dead body." Sara replied cryptically.

Both men just stared at her, Warrick spoke up first, "It wasn't Grissom was it? Cause if he sees you in that dress I think he might have a heart attack."

Sara glared at Warrick, "Actually Grissom's seen me in this dress."

Nick spit his coffee out at Sara's comment, "He has? When?" _I missed it! I would have paid money to have seen his reaction._

"He and Greg showed up at my scene. I had already started processing it and since Lyndsey's dance was over with I decided to make myself useful. Unfortunately, nobody had an extra set of coveralls with them." Sara explained.

"That's right, you were chaperoning Lynds' dance in place of Catherine. That was sweet of you Sara." Warrick was genuinely surprised Sara had gone through with it. _She's just full of surprises, never thought she'd have gone out in public looking like that. Score one for Sidle._

Brass was walking by the break room and stuck his head in once he spotted Sara, "He's here. You ready?"

Sara poured out the rest of her coffee, "Let's go, I can't wait to hear this. Where's he at?" she asked as she followed Brass out.

"Interrogation room 2. He doesn't seem nervous being that it is 1:00 in the morning. He looks awfully eager to help us out."

"You know what they say, looks can be deceiving. You play bad cop Brass, I'll play good cop."

Brass sighed, "I never get to play good cop."

Sara turned back to him with a grin, "That's because you don't know how to." Sara stepped into the room as Brass opened the door for her.

Brass started first, "Dr. Winstead, we certainly appreciate you taking the time to come down here at this hour. We've got a few more questions for you."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sara took a moment to watch Dr. Winstead before she sat down at the table. _He doesn't seem to be nervous. Actually, he looks solemn and he's awfully eager to help. Could be an act but I'm not getting that vibe. Let's see what he has to say._

Dr. Winstead answered Brass, "I'll help you in any way I can Captain Brass."

Brass sat down across from Dr. Winstead and next to Sara at the table, "That's very nice of you. We just have a few questions for you so we'll try to make this quick. How long have you been the principal at Thurman White Middle School?"

"Almost four years. In all my years of teaching I've never had to deal with something like this." Dr. Winstead said clearly upset at this chain of events, "I've already notified counselors within the school system and they'll be at the school first thing Monday morning to help out the students."

Sara spoke up, "That's a good idea. You never know how something like this will affect kids."

"Did Melissa hang out with a lot of the other students?" Brass asked.

"Not that I noticed, if it wasn't for the fact that she is…I'm sorry, was," Dr. Winstead said sheepishly, "the smartest student at the school I probably would have never noticed her. She kept to herself most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Brass inquired.

"The only time I saw her interact with the other students was when she was tutoring them. She loved helping the ones that weren't doing so well. She would stay after school, during lunch or even before school if someone needed help. She wanted to be a teacher. She had such a knack for helping them understand the material. She would take as long as it needed until they got it. It was quite amazing to watch this socially inept child tutor them. There were times I would be walking the halls of the school and see her and a student in the library and you would have thought she was the most popular kid in school the way she had there attention. Unfortunately, most kids don't want to talk about science or math all the time unless it will benefit them somehow."

Sara nodded in understanding. _Sounds like me. Except I never had the courage to put myself out there for anyone._ "You wouldn't happen to know who she was currently tutoring."

"I brought the list with me. I put there numbers beside their names. "Dr. Winstead said as he passed the sheet over to Brass.

"Dr. Winstead, "Sara pulled the printout of the fingerprint analysis out of her folder and slid it over to Dr. Winstead, "Can you tell us how your fingerprints got on the handle of the window in the boys bathroom?"

Dr. Winstead picked up the piece of paper. He didn't even hesitate, "I went into the bathroom after two of our students. I wouldn't say they're trouble makers but they like to be mischievous. I noticed the window was open. I thought maybe they had opened it. I told them not to mess with the window again. Both boys swore they didn't mess with it and then I closed it." He looked at Brass and Sara confused.

"Can I get the names of those boys that you talked to?" Brass asked.

"Of course, but what does this have to do with the murder of Melissa Graham?"

"Whoever killed her dumped her body out that window." Brass said as Dr. Winstead was writing the names down. He stopped in the middle of writing and Sara thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head.

"You can't possibly think that I…I mean that I could…that I had anything to do with this?" He said incredulously.

Brass shook his head no, "No Dr. Winstead we don't. But we have to rule everything out in this investigation. We're running all of the prints that we uncovered in the bathroom through the system as we speak. Strictly protocol."

Dr. Winstead visibly relaxed, "Thank you Captain Brass. Is there anything else you need?"

"Not at this time. But if there is anything else, we might call you again."

"Call me anytime day or night." Dr. Winstead said as he got up to leave. "Like I said, I'll help in anyway I can."

Brass and Sara turned to each other as he left the room. Sara spoke first, "He didn't do it."

Brass shook his head, "Great minds think alike. I ruled him out the minute he started talking but I wanted to know how his prints got on that handle."

"Me too, but how he says it happened makes perfect sense and we've got two eyewitnesses that'll verify it."

"So we're back to square one." Brass said as he watched Sara lean her elbows on the table and begin to rub her temples. "Why don't you go home and get some rest…" He was cut off by a glare from Sara.

"I'm fine." She said tightly.

Brass held his hands up in surrender, "You look fine to me too, I just thought that you'd want to be present at some of the interviews with the kids tomorrow. I'm starting at 11:00, thought you might want to get some rest before doing that, but hey if you don't want too."

Sara chuckled, "Okay, I get it. I'll go check in with Grissom on that fiber we found and then I'll go home, how bout that?"

_I still got it._ Brass smiled, "Whatever you want."

Sara rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face. She and Brass walked out of the interrogation room, "So who's up first tomorrow?"

Brass pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, "A kid by the name of Leon Spangler." Brass turned to look at Sara and noticed she wasn't beside him any longer. He stopped and turned around. "Did I say something wrong?"

_Leon._ "Let's just say, you're going to enjoy that interview." Sara mumbled.

"And why would that be?" he asked her.

"Because I think he propositioned me earlier tonight at the dance."

Brass laughed as Sara joined back up with him. "I like him already." That got him another glare from Sara. "What, got to admit the kid's got taste."

"I'll see you tomorrow at 11:00. I suggest you bring your handcuffs. This could get ugly." Sara said as she made her way back to the lab.

_Leon. Just great._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Grissom had just finished some paperwork in his office and decided he would go see Hodges in Trace to see if he had anything on that fiber. _Wonder when Sara will be back? Okay, Gil, stop thinking like that about her. You have to be professional. If you'd get your head out of your ass maybe you could just ask her out. Yeah, like you'll ever do anything like that._

Grissom had made it to Trace and Hodges noticed the expression on his face._ Wonder what he's got on his mind? Bet it has to do with a brunette, it won't hurt to have a little fun._ "Can I help you boss?"

Grissom shook himself out of his thoughts, "I was wondering if you had anything on that black fiber yet?"

Hodges smiled his snake like smile, "Sure you were, I mean I know if Sidle was walking around in a sexy dress that I'd be thinking about a black fiber too. Not that I've seen her in the dress yet, but word around the lab is that she looks amazing. But maybe I'm mistaken. What do you think?"

Grissom's stared at Hodges, "She looks nice, now back to my fiber. Do you or do you not have my results." He said between clenched teeth.

"Nice, right. Oh, here's your fiber analysis." Hodges said as he pulled out the results from the printer. "It's a black micro-fiber made of super fine, high density, soft material. It is often compared with a "soft satin" feeling. The material used is even finer than luxury natural fibers such as silk. Hey do you know if Sara's dress is silk?" He tried to ask innocently.

Grissom wasn't buying it. He knew Hodges was trying to rattle his cage and it pissed him off. "I wouldn't know Hodges. Now if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you would get back to work and quit worrying about what Sara is wearing. Unless of course you'd like to borrow it? If so I can ask her for you." Grissom smiled smugly.

Luckily for Hodges, he knew when to quit, "No problem boss, off limits, got it."

Grissom left Trace and headed back to his office. About the time he sat down he noticed a shadow at his door. _Sara._

"Anything on the fiber?" She asked as she leaned against the door jamb to Grissom's office.

Grissom still reeling from Hodges assumption grunted and handed the sheet out for her to take. Sara walked over to his desk and picked up the sheet. "So we've got a black micro-fiber that could be used for anything. I just love a challenge." She said playfully as she looked up at Grissom. He looked anything but happy. _Great, what have I done now?_ The smile fell from her face.

Grissom brought her thoughts back to the topic at hand, "What did the principal say?" He asked as he looked down at a piece of paper that had been sitting on his desk earlier. _Maybe if I don't look at her it will make my life easier. Besides, if Hodges could read me it's no telling what Sara could get off of looking at me._

Sara noticed the coldness and sighed, "He didn't do it. Brass has got some interviews scheduled for tomorrow so I'm going to go home and get some sleep so I can be here for that. Unless of course you need me for anything here?"

Grissom still didn't look at her, but shook his head, "No, we should be fine. I'll call you if anything else comes up."

Sara stood there for a minute and debated internally on whether or not she should say something about the distinct change in his attitude. _I was gone, what, 45 minutes and he's like this. I wonder if he's tri-polar because damn if I can figure him out._ "Okay, well I guess I'll go now." She turned and made it to the door when Grissom stopped her.

"Sara, I meant to tell you that you look…um…you look nice tonight." Grissom said shyly.

_Yep, definitely tri-polar. _Sara stopped at the door but didn't turn around to look at Grissom, "You know Grissom, you've told me twice in all the time that I have known you that I look nice. How come the only time you ever really see me is when I'm all dressed up." Sara said as she walked out the door to his office intent on forgetting this night and Gil Grissom.

"I see you everyday Sara." Grissom said quietly to Sara's retreating figure.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N Just wanted to thank everyone for their kind reviews. I'm really glad you guys are liking this story. Sorry so late on the update, things have been hectic at work and I haven't had the time to get it down. I promise I'll do better as long as I keep getting such awesome reviews! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter._

Chapter 6

As Sara made her way out of CSI she passed Catherine, Sofia, and Hodges in Trace. Catherine tried to get her attention, "Sara…what's…"

Sara didn't look at her and never broke her stride, "I'm done," she said as she headed out the door of the lab.

Catherine looked confused, Sofia looked intrigued and Hodges looked smug. Catherine wondered aloud, "What was that about?"

Hodges answered, "Bet you 10.00 Grissom said something to Sara about her attire." Catherine turned in time to see Hodges smirk.

"Just what do you mean by that Hodges? Sara was doing me a favor on her night off and came across a crime scene. You got something against a nicely dressed woman?" Catherine was in no mood for his games especially in front of Sofia, _who know doubt is hanging on every word._

Sofia chose this moment to speak up, "Well, I was at Ecklie's promotion gala and I still had time to change into a set of coveralls."

Catherine whipped her head around and stared at the other woman, _so you want to go there huh?_ "I'm sorry Sofia, maybe she didn't feel the need to do a little strip tease in front of her supervisor and half of the Las Vegas Police Department." Sofia's eyes widened but Catherine was on a roll. "I know everything that goes on around here, so you might want to remember that next time you take it upon yourself to make remarks about whether or not you're wearing underwear. Just for the record, I don't care. And neither did Grissom."

"He must have if he felt the need to bring it up to you." Sofia challenged.

"Actually, the only thing he said about that night that concerned you was that you talk to yourself. Which by the way is annoying and if you ever pull that on one of my scenes I'll tape your mouth shut. No, the underwear remark was passed down from deputy to deputy. Grissom is too much of a gentleman to remark on such tackiness." Catherine could have sworn Sofia's head was going to explode because it had turned a nice shade of red.

"See this is what I'm talking about," she remarked through clenched teeth. "I was respected by my peers on day shift and now I'm the odd man out on nights. I'm a good CSI and I deserve to be treated decently."

Catherine took a moment before she answered her, "Let me explain something to you about respect. Respect is earned not deserved especially where night shift and swing shift are concerned. You want it from us then we expect it to be given back. We are not your consolation prize, we are the best this lab has to offer and you should consider it a privilege instead of a demotion to be teamed with us. How do you think this lab became the number two in the country? It sure wasn't from day shifts record." Catherine changed tactics, "Do you know why Sara was brought here from San Francisco?"

Sofia scoffed, "I don't see what this has to do with anything, but no I don't know why she was called here?"

"She was called here to investigate an internal matter on night shift. Grissom personally asked her here because he trusted her. Just because Grissom trusted her, didn't mean that she automatically earned our respect. In fact, it took her a long time to gain that. She proved to each of us that she is a damn good CSI and that she has the integrity that people only wish they had. So the next time you want to throw a little pity party about wanting respect from you colleagues, you might want to approach someone other than Sara. You want us to respect you, quit talking about it and prove it."

"I have proved myself. I investigated Grissom and cleared him. What more do I have to do?" Sofia really wanted to know what it was going to take.

"I don't trust anybody that works closely with Ecklie, so you'll forgive me if I'm not jumping on the Sofia bandwagon. Listen and apply what I said and it will make your transition a hell of a lot easier." Catherine was preparing to leave Trace when she turned to Hodges, "And Hodges, you try and manipulate a situation with Grissom again and I will cut your balls off and serve them to you on a silver platter, clear?" She asked with a smile

Hodges visibly swallowed, "Clear."

Catherine walked out of Trace leaving a stunned Hodges and a contemplative Sofia. _Now to find the bug man and find out just what in the hell he's done now and if there's anyway to fix it._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sara got to her vehicle in the parking lot and leaned her head against the steering wheel. _Nice. He said I looked nice. Daisies are nice. Helping little old ladies across the street is nice. Finding five dollars in your coat pocket is nice. Me, dressed to kill, is not supposed to be nice._ Sara banged her head against the wheel. _Why, why, why, do I keep doing this to myself? You really should know better Sidle, hell you got more of a compliment out of Leon than you did Grissom. But I could have sworn he was a little unnerved by my appearance earlier at the scene, so what changed? Never mind, don't think about it. Just go home and sleep and wish that this night never happened._ Sara turned the key into the ignition, "Yeah like that's going to happen." She turned the radio on as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"This is 101.3 KPX radio and were dedicating the next hour to all you love birds out there, so grab the one you love or love the one your with because were going to make this a night you'll never forget. This next one is by Alicia Keys, If I Ain't Got You…"

Sara punched another button on the radio, "I refuse to listen to love songs, let's see what else is on…"

"Welcome to the Quiet Storm, our next song is Babyface's, Everytime I Close My Eyes, so get ready to hold on tight…"

"Let's not and say we did," Sara said as she punched another button, "Now this is more like it."

_**Let's talk this over**_

_**It's not like we're dead**_

**_Was it something I did?_**

_**Was it something you said?**_

_**Don't leave me hanging**_

_**In a city so dead**_

_**Held up so high**_

_**On such a breakable thread**_

"Sing it girl. It seems to always be something that I do."

_**You were all the things I thought I knew**_

_**And I thought we could be**_

Sara started signing the chorus to the song

_**You were everything, everything that I wanted**_

_**We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it**_

_**And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away**_

_**All this time you were pretending**_

_**So much for my happy ending**_

_**Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh…**_

She was really getting into by the time she turned into her apartment complex. She sat in her car and continued to listen to the song.

_**You've got your dumb friends**_

_**I know what they say**_

_**They tell you I'm difficult**_

_**But so are they**_

_**But they don't know me**_

**_Do they even know you?_**

_**All the things you hide from me**_

_**All the shit that you do**_

_**You were all the things I thought I knew**_

_**And I thought we could be**_

_Yeah,_ Sara thought, _I thought Grissom and I could be too, shows you how much I know_

_**You were everything, everything that I wanted**_

_**We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it**_

_**And all of the memories so close to me, just fade away**_

_**All this time you were pretending**_

_**So much for my happy ending**_

_**It's nice to know that you were there**_

_**Thanks for acting like you cared**_

_**And making me feel like I was the only one**_

_**It's nice to know we had it all**_

_**Thanks for watching as I fall **_

_**And letting me know we were done**_

_Not that we were ever started. He made sure of that didn't he? It's always been his rules, his pace._ "Well you know what, not anymore. It's time I took control of some things." Sara turned off the song and got out of her car to head up to her apartment. _It's time I started looking out for me. _She unlocked her door and let herself into her apartment. She walked to her bedroom and gently took her dress off and hung it up on its hanger. _I don't need anymore push and pull where Grissom is concerned._ She went to her dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of blue shorts and her Harvard t-shirt. _It's not healthy for me to be pining away for a man who will never be emotionally available to me._ She walked into her bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. _It's time I got "the" diversion that he so gently informed me I needed so long ago._ She turned out the light to her bathroom, pulled the covers back from her bed and slid between the sheets. _It's time to forget about Grissom and think about my happy ending._ As Sara tried to get comfortable and get to sleep her thoughts kept going back to the one person she wanted so desperately to forget. _Screw it, I'll start tomorrow with forgetting about Grissom._ She finally closed her eyes and let herself dream of a happy ending with Grissom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Catherine finally found the person she was looking for. _Should have known he'd be hiding in his office._ She cleared her throat, "Knock, knock."

Grissom looked up from the file he had been reading and gave his best fake smile, "What can I do for you?"

Catherine wasn't fooled, "So what has you hiding in here? Or should I ask who?"

Grissom glared at her, "Don't go there Catherine. I'm really not in the mood for one of your lectures on getting my head out of the microscope."

Catherine walked into his office with her hands held up in surrender, "Wouldn't dream of it. Just tell me one thing, what did you do to have her walking out of here broken?"

Grissom's patience was wearing thin, "Not that it is in anyway any of your business, but I made the awful mistake of telling her she looked nice." Grissom noticed Catherine's jaw had dropped open, "What, what is so wrong with telling her she looked nice?"

"Gil," Catherine was trying to figure out the best way to explain it to him, "When we were at Ecklie's little get together and you so generously left me holding the proverbial bag, what did you say to me about what I was wearing?"

Grissom looked confused, "I told you, you looked nice. And? What's wrong with telling someone that they look nice?"

"Let's try this a different way. You and I are friends, right?" Grissom shook his head yes, "And it was perfectly alright for you to tell me I looked nice. Now let's say I'm dating someone…"

Grissom interrupted her, "Who are you dating?"

"No one, but let's say I am…"

Grissom interrupted her again, "Have I met him?"

"Quit trying to change the subject and listen to me!" Catherine yelled exasperated. "Now let's say I'm dating someone and I'm dressed up in that same dress. Now if they were to tell me I looked nice, then I would know that the relationship would never progress to more than being friends. The proper response for that dress would be that I was beautiful and that he couldn't wait to get me out of it. Do you see what I'm trying to say?"

"Honestly, no…"

Catherine growled in frustration, "Gil, by telling Sara that she looked nice you essentially shot down her hopes of you having anything more than friendly feelings for her."

Grissom looked up quickly from his hands, "You can't be serious! But it was a compliment."

Catherine huffed, "It was a lousy compliment." Grissom glared at her over the top of his glasses. "Don't look at me like that, you're the one that said it. Now that we've gotten that cleared up, what did you really think of Sara?"

"Catherine, I really don't want to get into that with you."

"Well that's just tough. I went through a lot of trouble and I deserve to know just what you thought of it. If you can't tell Sara, you can at least tell me." Even though she had an idea, she really wanted to hear the words come out of his mouth. She wanted him to admit, out loud, that there was something there between him and Sara.

Grissom took a deep breath, "Where to start…okay…lovely, stunning, beautiful, enchanting, striking, gorgeous, desirable…"

Catherine interrupted Grissom, "I get it, and you can stop now. Damn, didn't actually think you'd answer me. So why didn't you say any of those things to Sara, in place of nice? Trust me every woman, including Sara Sidle would love to know that a man finds her desirable, especially if it's the man she's had her heart set on for five years."

Grissom just shook his head, "I don't know, I mean, she was standing there and all I could think of was nice." Grissom laid his head on his desk, "I'm an anti-social, tongue tied, freaking idiot."

Catherine just smiled, "Well the first step is to admit you have a problem." Grissom lifted his head up and looked at her. "The next step is to figure out how to get you out of this mess."

"No, Catherine, I did this and I need to fix it on my own." Grissom said as he got an idea on what he might be able to do. "Catherine, can you do me a favor?" Grissom walked around his desk towards his door and grabbed his jacket.

"Of course I can."

"I know you're off the clock but I need to run an errand. It will take me 30 minutes at the most. Can you watch night shift for me until I get back?" Grissom asked pleadingly.

Catherine sighed, "Sure, but whatever it is, it better be good, Gil. I don't think a plant's going to cut it this time."

Grissom smiled, "Gotcha, no plant. But I may have just the solution. I'll be back soon, I promise." Grissom went back to his desk, grabbed his keys, and headed out the door. _At least I hope this works._

"I hope for your sake and for Sara's that you know what you're doing, "Catherine mumbled as she watched him leave his office.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sara made it to the lab around 10:30 the next morning. She had slept better once she allowed herself to actually think happy thoughts about Grissom. _But today is a new day Sara, today is the start of letting go and moving on. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. God, I sound like a hallmark card._ Sara walked into the locker room to put up her purse before she headed to the PD to help Brass interview Leon. _I made sure I brought my mace this time. I have no doubt that Brass will be of no help to me whatsoever. If he eggs him on, I'm taking both of them out._ Sara opened her locker and immediately noticed something on the shelf in front of her. _Funny, I don't remember that from last night._ She picked up the new fingerprinting brush that was on the shelf. She ran it over her fingertips. _He didn't forget. Now this is what I call nice._ She then noticed the card underneath addressed to her in Gil Grissom's handwriting. _What the hell?_ She slowly opened the envelope and was stunned at what she read.

_Sara,_

_They say that we leave our fingerprints on the souls of people that we meet._

_If we had never met, I would miss your prints on my soul._

_Grissom_

TBC

_A/NJust in case anyone doesn't know, the song Sara was listening to was Avril Lavigne's, My Happy Ending. I just love that song._


	7. Chapter 7

_Again, I don't own anything, blah blah blah_

_Also again, thank you so much for the reviews._

Chapter 7

Sara stood in front of her locker in shock. _That is probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. And it is so much better than "From Grissom_". Sara put the note back in her locker and shut the door. She made her way out of the locker room and headed towards Grissom's office. All the lights were off so she knew he wasn't in there. She went to his desk and grabbed a blank piece of paper and pen. _Okay, now what?_ There were so many thoughts going through her head that she didn't know what exactly to write. _I'm always over talking around him, so why can't I think of anything to put on this piece of paper? Maybe it's because you don't want to scare away whatever personality made him leave the note? If I say too much, will he take it the wrong way and retreat, or if I say too little will he not understand just how much this meant to me? Or maybe, I'm scared he'll take it the right way and then we might have to actually deal with "this"? I know one thing, I'm tired of the pushing and the pulling. It's time to stop this game of tug and war and only two people can do that. And I'm not playing anymore._ With her mind made up, Sara wrote her note to Grissom and put it in his chair, that way if anyone walked in his office they wouldn't be able to read it. But it would be the first thing he saw before he sat down.

Sara walked out of Grissom's office and headed towards the break room for some coffee. She looked at the clock and it read 10:45 am. _15 minutes until Leon._ She made a mental checklist. _Gun. Check. Handcuffs. Check. Pepper spray. Check._ She looked at the clock again and realized only 2 minutes had passed. _Now I know how a condemned prisoner feels. I would rather deal with a dead body that's been in the water for 2 weeks than deal with Leon. And Brass. Speaking of Brass, don't forget to pat him down for recording devices. I'll be damned if I'm going to have to deal with this humiliation for years to come. _Sara looked back up to the clock. _Can't put it off any longer._ She poured the rest of her coffee out in the sink. _Let's get this over with._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She could swear she could hear the theme music to Clint Eastwood's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" as she made her way to the conference room. She spotted Brass in the hallway and had a mental image of him in a pair of boots, chaps, and a cowboy hat with a cigarillo hanging from his lips.

Brass noticed her smirk as she came up to him, "Something amusing Ms. Sidle?"

Sara cocked her head to the side and grinned at him, "You wouldn't happen to own a pair of chaps, would you?"

Out of all the things Jim Brass expected to come out of her mouth, that wasn't one of them, "Um…"

Sara shook her head, "Never mind, just thinking out loud."

Brass looked at her funny, "Could you do me a favor and not think of that EVER again."

Sara laughed, "No problem so is our future defendant for a sexual harassment suit here yet?"

Now it was Brass' turn to smirk, "Yes he is. I don't know what you're all concerned about Sara. He's a skinny little 12 year old. He's perfectly harmless."

"Yeah, and I'm Miss Las Vegas." Sara started patting Brass down.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but what may I ask are you doing?" Brass was curious as to what was going on.

Sara just looked at him, "I'm making sure you don't have a recording device on you."

"Well then by all means continue, be sure you pay special attention to my left front pocket." Brass mischievously remarked.

Sara's hands stilled at Brass' comment. _He's already having way too much fun with this._ Sara straightened up and took a deep breath. "You're clean, now let's go see if this "harmless" 12 year old can help us out." She started for the conference room with Brass behind her.

As they got to the door Sara suddenly stopped, "What?" Brass asked.

"I forgot my duct tape."

Brass rolled his eyes, "Sara, you can't abuse a witness by taping his mouth shut."

Sara turned her head and looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes, "It wasn't for him, it was for you.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Grissom was home trying to get to sleep but it was proving to be elusive. He rolled over and looked at the clock. 10:56 am. Sara had to have gotten my note by now. _I wonder what she thought about it. _He rolled back over and stared at his ceiling. _How did she take it? Did she throw it away? Did she understand what I was trying to say or did I just confuse her even more?_ Grissom ran his hands over his face. _Does she even care anymore? Do I want her to still care?_ Grissom sat straight up in bed, "Yes. Yes I do." He started to laugh. _Well, I'll be, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Fear really is a powerful motivator._ Grissom laid back down and closed his eyes. _All I can do is try. I'm not going to change overnight but I can try. All she's ever asked me to do is try. She's never asked for anything more than I've been willing to give her. But you've never given her anything of yourself, have you? It's always been on your terms, what works for you._ Grissom rolled back over on his side. The clock read 11:06 am. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. _Better get some sleep, tonight's going to be a fresh start and you're going to need all the help you can get._ He closed his eyes and sleep finally found him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sara opened the door and immediately noticed Leon's eyes go wide. Then she saw the corner of his lips lift in a smirk.

"I just knew you wouldn't be able to stay away from me."

Sara just stared at him. _Take a deep breath Sidle, too many witnesses._

Thankfully Brass decided to step in, "Leon, where's your mom?"

"I told her to wait outside, I knew you just wanted to talk to me about Melissa, so there wasn't any need for her to sit here with me. I'm a big boy." He winked at Sara.

Sara couldn't stop herself, "You got something in your eye, Leon."

"No, but there must be something wrong with them, cause I can't take my eyes off of you."

Sara heard a strangled cough from behind her. _Brass had better not laugh._

"Why don't we get started?" Brass went and sat across from Leon. Sara sat to the right of Brass.

Leon got up and sat in the chair beside Sara. Sara huffed out a breath, she then got up and sat on the left of Brass.

"I know milk does a body good, but baby, how much have you been drinking," Leon said as he stood up and took the empty chair on the left side of Sara.

Brass was really trying not to lose it. But seeing Sara being pursued by this skinny kid was more than he bargained for. _I should really stop this, really I should but…_

He heard another chair being pushed out as Sara got up again, this time Leon stood up at the same time, intent on following her, "Were you arrested earlier, cause it's got to be illegal to look that good."

That did it for Brass and he finally let out a laugh, which earned him a glare from Sara. She sat down in the first chair that she had tried to sit in to the right of Brass. He saw Leon coming back around the table and stopped him, "Leon, as much fun as I'm having watching this game of musical chairs, we really need to get some information from you. So sit back down in the chair across from us, okay?"

Leon eyed Brass warily, then nodded in understanding, "I get it, she's got to have all her concentration and me sitting beside her could get distracting, no problem pops." Leon sat back down but never took his eyes off of Sara, who was clenching her jaw so tightly Brass thought she was going to break a tooth.

Brass cleared his throat, "Right, so Leon how did you know the deceased, Melissa Graham?"

Leon's next words threw Brass and Sara for a loop. "I want a deal."

"What!" Brass and Sara said at the same time.

"I want a deal. I watch NYPD Blue. I know how this works. I give you something and you give me something."

"That's only if you're guilty of something, Leon, which you're not." Sara muttered through clenched teeth.

"Then I'm not talking." Leon crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair.

"Look her you little…" Sara started only to be interrupted by Brass.

"What do you want Leon?"

Leon's eyes lit up and he put his elbows on the table, "I want sweet thang here to be my date to the next dance."

"What!" Sara yelled.

Brass was beginning to like this kid, "I tell you what, Leon. If any information you give us ends up in the arrest of Melissa's murderer, I'll personally guarantee that Miss Sidle will attend that dance with you."

Sara spun her head towards Brass, "You've got to be kidding me! There is no way in hell that I'm…"

Now Leon interrupted her, "I want it in writing. They always get it in writing on Law & Order."

"I can't believe what they let 12 year olds watch nowadays." Sara muttered to herself.

"I'll write it down right now and we'll both sign it." Brass pulled his legal pad out and started writing.

"Brass," Sara said incredulously, "This is ridiculous."

"Sara, this is the only way we can get Mr. Spangler's cooperation. Besides," he whispered only where Sara could hear, "what could he possibly know."

Sara felt like she was in the twilight zone, "Isn't prostitution illegal, because I'm suddenly feeling like I'm being pimped out."

Brass grinned, "Didn't you know that before I became a cop the ladies used to call me Big Daddy Jim?"

"Oh, I've got a couple of names for you too," Sara finally relented, "Fine, do it."

Leon looked like he'd just found out that he could play X-Box as long as he wanted to. "Really? Oh this is gonna be so cool!"

Brass pushed the legal pad over to him. He read what was written on it, signed his name and pushed it back over to Brass.

Brass then signed his name, "Now, with the legalities over with, how well did you know Melissa Graham?"

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Leon looked down at the table at Brass' question, "Melissa was very smart, it's because of her that I passed math last year. But other than her tutoring me I didn't know a lot about her. She didn't talk about herself, all she wanted to do was help me learn."

Sara eyed Leon suspiciously, "So last year was the only time that she tutored you?"

Leon looked up and glanced at Sara, "No, she tutored me again this year."

"So she tutored you but you don't know anything personal about her?" Brass asked.

"Like I said, she didn't really talk about herself, it was all about the work. Besides, no one wants a geek as a friend."

Sara took offense at this remark, "I was a geek Leon, and geeks should be revered."

Leon's eyes widened at Sara's response, "Uh uh, no way were you ever a geek! With all those curves and me with no brakes, there's no way."

Brass snickered, "Leon, back on topic, do you know of anyone that might have had a grudge against Melissa."

"No way man, she was always quiet and kept to herself, I mean, it's not like we hung out together, shoot, half the time I didn't even acknowledge her if I saw her in the halls, I mean, I have a rep to maintain, know what I'm saying?"

"No Leon, I don't know what you're saying," Sara said sarcastically, _hell, I could have been Melissa at anytime during middle school, who am I kidding, I was Melissa._ "Did you ever think that maybe it would have been the decent thing to do to speak to her? That maybe she was just shy and needed some coaxing out of her shell? That if you had talked to her it might have made the biggest difference in her day?"

Leon pondered this for a second, "Nah, it wouldn't have mattered, all she wanted to talk about was science and math, she didn't care about the gossip of who was seeing who or any of that stuff. I tried to talk to her a few times when we'd meet before school and I can tell you she was not interested. She'd act like I never said a word and would tell me to focus. That was just her way. Don't get me wrong, she was just doing what I needed. See, I tend to get distracted," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Sara.

Brass sighed, "Well Leon you've been a wealth of information, is there anything that you might be able to tell us that may in fact help us in this investigation?"

Leon smirked, "You're not asking me the right questions."

Now it was Sara's turn to grin, _how do you like it Brass._

Brass was turning red, "Look here, either you tell me something pertaining to this case, or I will escort you to the next dance."

Leon looked horrified and put his hands up in front of him, "Chill man, I was just playing, I might not be the person that you need to be talking to."

"Oh yeah, and just who exactly do we need to be talking to?" Brass was quickly losing his patience with Leon.

"You need to be talking with Heather Langford."

Sara looked at the list of people that Melissa had been tutoring and saw a Heather Langford on it, "What would Heather be able to tell us?"

Leon shrugged, "Not really sure, but there was a day, couple weeks back, where Melissa and Heather were walking away from the library together. Melissa tutored her in the afternoons and I was waiting for my ride to come pick me up from ball practice. Anyway, Heather looked like she had been crying and Melissa was trying to hurry up to her. I wasn't paying a lot of attention but I did hear Melissa say something like, tell me what's going on or what happened. Something like that. Heather got in her rides car and shut the door before Melissa could catch up to her. Both of them looked pretty upset."

Brass looked like he could strangle this kid, "And you felt the need to keep this information from us until now, why?"

Leon just grinned, "I wanted some alone time with beautiful here," he said pointing at Sara, "You can't blame a man for trying."

"No Leon, you can't. Well, I think were done here." Brass started straightening his paperwork and put it back in its file.

"So when can I see you again?" Leon said to Sara.

Sara shook her head, "Leon, if I never see you again, it will be too soon."

Leon feigned hurt, "Ah…don't be like that, tell you what, when we go to the dance together, I'll make sure my mom buys you some nice flowers."

Sara leaned over the table and looked at him, "Unless I missed something, nothing you said helped us in anyway find out who killed Melissa Graham. So I'm afraid this little fantasy of yours ends here and now."

Leon winked again at Sara and stood up from the table, "Maybe, maybe not." He started for the door with Brass and Sara following behind him, "But we'll just have to see what happens now won't we." As they headed out the door Leon turned back and looked Sara up and down, "Wear something red to the dance, I just love the color red."

Sara was about to lay into him when Brass grabbed her arm to hold her back, "Not that I wouldn't love to see it, but it's not worth it, he's got nothing." He whispered in her ear. "Leon my boy, it's been a pleasure, I believe your mom is waiting for you in the lobby, you know how to get there?"

"Believe me the pleasure's been all mine," Leon said as he picked up Sara's hand and kissed the top of it. "Till we meet again." He dropped Sara's hand and turned to walk away, bumping into Mia, the DNA technician. "That's a nice shirt, can I talk you out of it?"

Sara and Brass quickly hightailed it out of there after seeing the shocked look on the lab techs face. She couldn't help but giggle, _There is a god! My day is looking up._

Brass spoke first, "Well that was a big waste of time, except of course for his stalking of you."

"Yeah, ha ha, big laughs, if I find out that this is now the talk of the lab, I will find you Jim Brass and it will take them weeks to put all of your pieces back together, understand me?"

Brass nodded, "Crystal clear, but can't I at least tell Grissom, I mean maybe he'll consider Leon a rival for your affections."

Sara stopped dead in her tracks, _he couldn't possibly know, could he?_ "I don't know what you're talking about Brass."

"Sure you don't, of course I wouldn't tell Gil he was only 12, I'd just leave that part out. Or maybe I should introduce Gil to Leon. Yeah, I'm liking this scenario better, introduce him to Leon, you walk in on the two of them and let the magic begin. I'm a sucker for a romantic ending." Brass wiped an imaginary tear out of the corner of his eye.

Sara snorted "There is no such thing as a romantic ending, and even if there was, there's no way it would happen to me. Fate isn't on my side."

"Sara, you're prince charming will come around, as soon as he gets his head out of his ass."

Sara cleared her throat, "Thanks Brass, um…so who's up next?"

_I know a changing of the subject when I see one,_ "We've got a couple of the other students before our meeting with Heather Langford and her mother. I also got in touch with a photographer that was at the dance and he's agreed to speed up his processing and get us copies of the pictures taken. Gil should be here by then, I can go get the pictures and you two can interview Heather."

_Oh, hell no! I still don't know how he's going to react to my note and I'm not going to be around until I know which personality is going to show up._"Why don't I finish up with you on the morning interviews and then I'll go see the photographer, get the pictures, and you and Grissom can interview Heather. What time did he say they'd be ready?"

Brass smirked knowingly, "He said we could come by around 4:00, is that enough time for you to avoid Grissom or should I move the time up in case he comes in early."

Sara glared at Brass, "Bite me."

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

A/N Sorry this is so late guys, real life got in the way and then I got lost on where to go next. Hopefully everyone will like where I take this story

Disclaimer: Do you really think if I owned CSI that Nick would be walking around with that thing on his face or Grissom that hat!

Chapter 9

Gil Grissom walked into CSI nervous, but with a renewed sense of self. It almost felt like an awakening of sorts. Yes, he was anxious to hear Sara's response to his sentiment on the card, but he also felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He didn't realize how much lighter he would feel after professing some of what he felt towards Sara, _I should have done this years ago._ He knew that he had hurt Sara in the past with his indifference and his ultimate rejection of her dinner invitation but he was just now beginning to realize how much he had been hurting himself in the process. _Sydney J. Harris was right when he said "Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."_ Grissom's thoughts were interrupted by his pager going off before he could ponder that quote more. It was Brass, _4:00, in conference room 1._

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," Grissom muttered as he opened the door to his office. Brass had called him earlier to ask him if he could help with some of the student interviews and before he could ask where Sara was, Brass read his mind and explained that the photographer at the dance would have the photos ready for pickup around 4:00 and Sara had offered to pick them up. _Well at least I have a little time to prepare myself for her reaction._ Grissom walked into his office and laid his briefcase on the floor beside his desk. He was getting ready to leave when a piece of paper in his chair caught his eye. "What the…" He pushed the chair back and picked up the folded piece of paper. As he unfolded it, his heart began to race as he noticed Sara's distinct scrawl. Grissom closed his eyes and took a deep breath preparing himself for Sara's words. _Here goes nothing_. Grissom opened his eyes and began reading.

_Gil,_

_Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step._

_Martin Luther King, Jr._

_If we take the first step together, there's no way we can fall._

_Dinner?_

_Sara_

Grissom was in shock. She'd called him Gil, not Grissom. Gil. _Well actually she didn't call you anything, but she WROTE Gil, instead of Grissom. That means something and_ _after everything that I put her through, she's still brave enough to put herself out there for me. She either knows what to do about this or she's not as smart as I thought she was. Yeah right, she's brilliant. Okay, balls in my court. What the hell do I do now! I know._ He chuckled to himself, it was like it was in the cartoons, the proverbial light bulb going off over one of the characters heads.

Grissom's thoughts were again interrupted by his pager. "Damn it!" he growled as he pulled the offending contraption from his belt. _Brass._ _You coming or would you like me to do your job too?_ "Smartass," Grissom muttered under his breath. He carefully refolded Sara's note and placed it in the top drawer of his desk. He picked up his phone and dialed an all too familiar number. As he left his message he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

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Sara pulled up to the curb and put the Tahoe into park. She took out the sheet of paper with the address Brass had given her for the photographer and double checked it to the address she was now sitting in front of. _This is it,_ _Mr. Jason Daniels_. Sara looked at the clock, 3:30. _ Hopefully I'm not too early. He told Brass they'd be ready around 4:00._ She sat there for a minute trying to decide whether or not to go ahead or sit and wait. The sitting and waiting was making her brain think of one exasperating entomologist. _I wonder if he's gotten in yet? Wonder if he's read my note? Wonder if I can be anymore pathetic, really Sidle this is ridiculous, you've put the ball in his court and now you just have to wait and see._ Sara had enough of waiting, "they say a picture's worth a thousand words, let's see if it can tell me who killed Melissa." Sara got out of the car and headed up the driveway.

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Grissom met Brass in front of conference room 1 to help him interview Heather Langford, the other student that was mentioned as being tutored by Melissa. Heather and her mother were already seated at the big oak table in the conference room. Brass took one look at him and could tell something was different but couldn't put his finger on it. "Did you get a haircut?"

"Nope."

Jim Brass was nothing if not persistent, "Did you color your beard?" Grissom scowled at him. "What, I never figured you as a "Just For Men" man but there's something different about you. I'm trying to figure out what it is, and knowing you like I do I'll have to play twenty questions with you before you'll tell me."

Grissom shook his head, "What makes you think there's anything different about me?"

"Just a hunch. And you know me I always go with my gut." Brass remarked, still looking intently at Grissom.

Grissom smirked, "Maybe it's just indigestion."

"See what I mean," Brass pointed his finger at him, "You made a wisecrack instead of spouting off some lame ass quote about finding knowledge in a haystack…"

Grissom interrupted him, "It's a needle."

"What?" Brass asked confused.

"It's a needle in a haystack, and knowledge being power."

Brass nodded his head, "Whatever, but that's what I mean, usually you'd have quotes coming out of your ass, but instead I get Mr. Funny. Don't get me wrong, I understand funny, which has me perplexed. You my friend are not a funny guy."

Grissom couldn't help but smile, "Do I need an attorney present during this interrogation, Detective, because I know my rights."

Brass's mouth gaped open, "I'm going to shelve this line of questioning for now, but, make no mistake about it. I will get to the bottom of this."

Grissom opened the door to the conference room, waiting for Brass to enter first, "And I for one can't wait to see what you come up with."

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Sara knocked on Mr. Daniels door. Nothing. She knocked again. _Oh, come on._ She looked around the porch and noticed the window. She peeked in the window but saw no movement. _Great, just great._ She looked at her watch. 3:41. Sara stepped off of the front stoop and noticed a fence. She walked over to it and could see that in the backyard, there was a pool with a building in the back. She noticed that the door was somewhat ajar. "Hello. Is Mr. Daniels here?"

A man in his mid forties with graying brown hair stuck his head out. "Can I help you"

"Yes, sir, I'm Sara Sidle with the Crime Lab, Detective Jim Brass with the Las Vegas PD said that you might have some photos from the dance?'

Mr. Daniels opened the door further, "I'm sorry, Ms. Sidle, come on back here." He motioned Sara to come into the backyard. "I was just finishing up some other pictures from another event and the time got away with me."

Sara followed the path around the pool to the building, "No problem, Mr. Daniels, I'm a little early."

Mr. Daniels shook his head, "It's no problem at all, if you'll follow me, I have those pictures ready for you, I just have to find them. I certainly hope you guys catch this monster. My daughter goes to that school. My wife and I are seriously considering moving her to another school because of this."

Sara entered the building, it was a makeshift photo lab. "Do you work out of here?" She asked while looking around. It was bigger than her apartment.

"Yes, my wife is a nurse at the hospital and she works odd hours. It's easier for me to watch our daughter and I can get some work done at the same time. Saves us money on having to pay someone else to have to do it. Plus, it gives her and I a chance to spend some time together."

Sara smiled, "That's very refreshing, now days you hear more and more about fathers staying home to take care of the kids."

"We do what we can, so do you have any leads on who might have done this to that poor girl?"

Sara shook her head, "I'm really not at liberty to talk about the case but we're hoping that your pictures can help us out." Sara's pager chose that moment to go off. "I'm sorry, Mr. Daniels."

He waved a hand, "Don't worry about it, let me see if I can find you those pictures."

"Thanks," Sara said absently as she pulled her pager off her belt to check her text message.

_Let's see what happens, Grissom_

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Brass started off the interview, "Mrs. Langford, we appreciate you taking the time to bring your daughter in to talk to us."

Mrs. Langford was sitting next to her daughter Heather, "It's not a problem Detective Brass. Heather and I will help you anyway we can."

Grissom sat across from them and Brass took the seat to his left. He noticed that Heather had yet to make eye contact with any of the adults in the room. "Heather," he asked softly. She lifted her head up and Grissom could see the fear in her eyes. "Can you tell us what you knew about Melissa."

Heather looked quickly back down to the table, "She tutored me in science."

Brass was beginning to catch the same vibe as Grissom, "Is that all Heather? Is there anything that you can think of that she might have said to you, or that you might have seen?"

Heather shook her head no quickly. _A little too quickly._ "Heather, we talked to another student that Melissa tutored. A Leon Spangler. Do you know Leon?" Heather shook her head yes this time, but still didn't say anything. Brass continued, "He said that he saw you and Melissa one day after school and that you seemed upset. You want to tell us what you two were talking about." Brass was met with silence.

Grissom continued to watch Heather. Mrs. Langford shifted in her chair to get a better look at her daughter. "Heather, if you know something, you have to tell these gentlemen." All they got was a shrug.

It was enough for Grissom to notice the bruising around Melissa's wrist where her shirt rode up slightly, "Heather, may I see your wrist, please?" he asked as her head shot up and Grissom got a good look in her eyes. _What could have her that scared_. "Heather, is someone hurting you? Is that what you and Melissa where talking about?"

A tear slid down Heathers cheek, "I can't tell anyone. I can't."

Mrs. Langford was in shock, "Honey, what's going on? You know you can tell me anything. If someone has hurt you, your father and I will make sure it never happens again."

Heather squeezed her eyes tight and violently shook her head, "No, no, no! I can't tell you. He thought I told Melissa, I tried to tell him…" She was shaking and her tears were flowing in a steady stream down her face now.

Brass instantly turned compassionate, "Heather, what did you try to tell him?"

She opened her tear laden eyes and spoke quietly, "He saw us talking, he heard her asking me questions about the bruises. He thought I'd told her, but I didn't! I swear I didn't tell anyone. He said that if I told anyone else that they'd end up just like Melissa. I…I can't…" she was beginning to hyperventilate.

Mrs. Langford was in shock, "Honey," she took Heathers hands, "Baby, I need you to calm down. Take some deep breaths. That's it. Now I want you to tell us who did this to you and Melissa." Heather shook her head and tried to jerk her hands out of her mothers grasp.

Grissom cleared his throat, _Who could do this to a child,_ "Heather, I promise if you tell us who this person is, Detective Brass and I will make sure that this never happens to you or to another girl again. You need to do this not only for yourself, but for Melissa."

Heather leaned over and whispered in her mothers ear, "My god!" Mrs. Langford exclaimed, "I'll kill him."

Brass jumped in first, "Mrs. Langford, I need you to tell me who she named."

Now Mrs. Langford was visibly shaking, she jumped up and emptied the contents of her stomach in the trash can by the door. "How could I not have seen this? He was hurting her right in front of me! What kind of mother am I?"

Grissom got up out of his chair and handed Mrs. Langford his handkerchief, "I know this is difficult, but we need you to tell us what your daughter said."

Mrs. Langford took a deep breath, "My husband, that bastard has been hurting my daughter."

Brass took out his notebook as Grissom led Mrs. Langford back to her seat. She immediately enveloped her daughter in a hug, whispering words of comfort into her daughter's hair. "Ma'am, can you tell me where Mr. Langford is now?"

She nodded, "His last names not Langford, I never changed my last name from Heather's father when we got divorced. That son of a bitch is at the house. He works from home. I can't believe I didn't see this."

Heather," She looked up at Grissom, "You did good. I want you to always remember that this is not nor never was your fault." Grissom had all of his focus on Heather and wasn't paying attention to Brass and Mrs. Langford.

"Shit!" Brass swore as he nearly ran out of the conference room. Grissom was confused at Brass' outburst and slowly began to follow him out of the room. "I need all units, I mean all units available to that address now. Lights and sirens blaring, there is an officer already on scene. I repeat there is an officer on scene, proceed with caution."

Grissom was baffled by Brass' behavior, "What is going on? You just ran out of there. And who is already there? Page them and have them hold him until we can get there with the warrant."

Brass turned around, "It's Sara."

"What's Sara?" Grissom carefully asked.

Brass took a deep breath, "Sara, is the officer on the scene. Mrs. Langford's husband is Mr. Jason Daniels, the photographer from the dance."

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: Just wanted to let you guys know that when I started this story the team wasn't together yet, so I'm going keep it that way for now. Also this chapter has strong language, but I thought it fit the particular scene. _

Chapter 10

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Warrick and Nick were at the scene of a liquor store robbery with Detective Vartann when they heard Brass over the radio, _"I need all units, I mean all units available to that address now. Lights and sirens blaring, there is an officer already on scene. I repeat there is an officer on scene, proceed with caution._" This immediately got their attention, "Hey, Vartann, what's going on?" Warrick asked.

"I'm not sure, but if you guys are almost done, that address is only about 10 minutes away. I think I need to be heading there if you don't mind"

Warrick and Nick looked at each other and they both had the same thought. Nick spoke first as he started closing up his kit, "We're done here, why don't we follow you there. Might need us?"

Vartann didn't have time to argue that this could possibly be a dangerous situation, "Sure, sure, just lets go, I've never heard Brass sound like that before. You guys got the address?"

Warrick shook his head, "Yeah, man, we got it. You go on, we'll be right behind you." Vartann nodded and then jogged out to his vehicle. "Man, what do you thinks going on?"

Nick grabbed the evidence bags, "Not sure, but I'll be damn if we're going to miss this. We haven't had any excitement since we started on day shift."

"True, but you know what they say," Warrick asked.

Nick looked over his shoulder as they made their way to the Tahoe, "No, what?"

Warrick opened the door and buckled into the passenger seat, as Nick climbed into the driver's seat, he looked at him and smirked, "The freaks come out at night."

Nick chuckled, "You really shouldn't talk about Greg like that."

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_Let's see what happens! Let's see what happens, Grissom!_ Sara couldn't help the little smile that pursed her lips. She kept staring at her pager as if she looked away then the message would not be there and then there wouldn't be proof that she had ever seen this. She pinched herself on the arm. _Okay, that was real, I'm not dreaming. He's serious. He wants to see what happens. He wants…wait, what does he want?_ Sara had a quizzical look on her face as she looked up from her pager. _Stop that Sidle! To every action there is a reaction, you asked, he answered, I'll be damn if you're going to ruin it by over thinking. Rome wasn't built in a day, not everything has to be figured out right now. Just…wait, what is that?_

Sara had been so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she didn't notice the long brown hair imbedded in the camera strap until she was right on top of it. She leaned down so she was eye level with the table to get a better look at it. _Hmmm…what is that? It looks like it could be blood? What would blood be doing on a camera strap?_ She pulled her pen out of her pants pocket and gently put it under the strap as she thought back to what Dr. Robbins had said at the autopsy, _"…based on the deep narrow marks around the neck, it would indicate some form of cord or rope about an inch in width that may have been used." This is the right width._ She then remembered the report Grissom gave her from Hodges, it stated that it was a black micro-fiber made of super fine high density soft material, silk like. She ran her finger over the end attached to the camera. _Silk like, could be it. But why would Mr. Daniels kill Melissa? Doesn't matter, we've first got to compare the DNA from this strap to Melissa's DNA, if it's a match then Mr. Daniels is going to have some explaining to do. I've got to get a warrant, I don't think the plain sight rule will work this time._

Sara was about to call Grissom when her phone vibrated in her hand. Startled she dropped it.

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Grissom and Brass nearly ran over a lab tech as they rushed out of the lab. "I'm driving," Brass said between breaths. Grissom didn't respond as they reached his LVPD unmarked crown Vic at the same time and both quickly entered the vehicle. Brass reached up and turned on his lights and sirens and immediately got back on his radio. Mentally he was trying to compute the distance between the lab and Mr. Daniels residence. _Fifteen minutes, too long for us to get there first. _ "The unit closest to the Daniels address, what's your ETA?" Brass alternated between cussing and praying as he wove between cars, his dash light flashing. He looked to Grissom as he tried Sara again on her cell. _No answer._ "I should have gone with her, or at the very least I should have sent someone with her." Brass hit the dashboard with his fist.

Grissom had left a message on her cell. _Why isn't she answering? _Grissom flinched when Brass hit the dashboard. "It's not your fault Jim." He said with little conviction. He had never before in his life been so terrified. Brass had patrol on the way to Mr. Daniel's house, but what if it was already too late? _No. It will not be too late._

Brass swerved into the left hand lane to avoid the traffic that was beginning to accumulate in front of them, "Do you people not see the lights! What do you think I have them on for decoration? Does this look like a Christmas tree! Move out of the way you fucking idiot!" He honked the horn and swerved back into the right hand lane as he passed the traffic tie up.

Grissom was holding the bar so tightly that his knuckles were beginning to turn white. _Too late._ It kept repeating over and over in his head.

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Sara bent down to retrieve her phone off of the floor, when she was viciously jerked up by something being slipped around her throat. Her hands immediately went to the offending object that was cutting off her oxygen supply.

She could vaguely hear Mr. Daniels in her ear, "What do you think, I'm stupid. I know why you're here. You know! That stupid bitch told you didn't she, didn't she!"

Sara was gasping now, "Mr….Mr….Daniels, I…I…can't…breathe…please…"

This only seemed to enrage him as he tightened the makeshift noose around her neck, "Please, please! You are all the same. Here I was trying to help you by giving you those pictures, but nooooo…you had to pretend to come in here and make small talk, when you knew, YOU KNEW, it was me the whole time. No, this is going to end today. One way or the other."

Sara could see the blackness as it creeped up into her peripheral and tried to overtake her. _One chance Sara, you're only going to be able to do this once._ With what little strength she had left she threw her head forward and then violently threw it back, head butting Mr. Daniels in the process. She heard the crack of bone and knew that she had connected solidly with his nose.

"Aaaahhhhhh! You BITCH!" He screamed, but it was enough to make him loosen his hold and allow Sara to fall to her knees gasping for breath. Her vision was slowing coming back and she could see Mr. Daniels holding his nose with his left hand, trying to stop the blood flow.

Sara began crawling to the door of the photo lab, _Get up Sidle, Get up!_ She grabbed onto the nearest table and tried to use it as leverage to help her up. A wave of dizziness hit her and she fell back to her knees. _You don't have time, get up!_ She grabbed onto it again and this time the dizziness didn't knock her down. She made her way to the door. _Just a few more steps, you can do this._

Mr. Daniels was beginning to come back to his senses. He saw Sara pull herself up and focused all of his rage on her. "You fucking whore. You're going to pay for that." He started moving towards her.

Sara turned so that she was facing Mr. Daniels as she gradually walked backwards towards the door. "Mr. Daniels, you don't want to do this."

"Shut up, just shut up! I'm so tired of you bitches telling me what I can and can't do. You're all the same you know that."

Sara knew there would be no reasoning with him. He looked like a mad man coming at her with blood running out of his nose, down his face and his shirt. There was blood covering his hand from where he had tried to cradle his nose from the initial blow. But it was the wild look in his eyes that had Sara's blood running cold. _He's not feeling anything but rage now. That's not good._ She could tell he had tunnel vision and she was the only thing he was focusing on. Not daring to take her gaze off Mr. Daniels, even for a second, Sara inched to the side, trying to get at least a chair between them as she reached behind her to open the door. _Okay, you're almost out, watch the steps. Keep him talking._ "Mr. Daniels, why don't you tell me why you killed Melissa?"

"Why don't you tell me why you killed Melissa?" Mr. Daniels mocked, "I've got a better idea," he said as he slowly stalked Sara out the door.

Before she could veer left or right, Mr. Daniels lunged for her. Caught off balance as he crashed into her, Sara's foot slipped off the edge of the pool, and like dominoes, they plunged into the water.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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Tangled together, struggling, Sara and Mr. Daniels went to the bottom of the pool. Sara hadn't had time to take in any air before she went under. Her lungs were burning, her chest was convulsing, as she fought not to inhale water. She wrenched out of Mr. Daniels grasp and pushed her way up to the surface, gulping in huge breaths of air as soon as her face broke the water. She choked and sputtered and looked around wildly.

Mr. Daniels had not surfaced.

As she struggled to make it to the shallow end, she felt a hand grab her foot and forcefully pull her back under. Sara started kicking her legs, trying to break the grasp on her ankle. It was no use, he had a death grip on her and was able to drag her back towards the deep end. Fiercely, Sara grabbed Mr. Daniels hair and pulled back as hard as she could, hoping it would hurt enough that he would loosen his grip on her. It did, but unfortunately, Mr. Daniels recovered quickly. He twisted and got his hands around Sara's throat.

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Warrick and Nick were mere seconds behind Detective Vartann's vehicle as he pulled up to the address Brass had requested assistance at with lights flashing and sirens blaring. They both had to admit it was a rush turning on their own lights and speeding down the highway. Vartann got out of his vehicle and headed towards Warrick and Nick, "You guys stay here until we secure the scene."

Nick groaned, "Aw, come on, we're the first ones here, let us help you."

Vartann shook his head no, "Don't even think about it guys, and no way am I going to talk to Catherine to explain how two of her CSI's got injured at a scene. She scares me. Now stay here, while I go check out the residence." He looked around, "I thought Brass said there was an officer here, Do either of you see a police car?"

Warrick saw it first, "No police car, but isn't that one of ours," he asked Nick as he started walking towards the CSI issued Yukon.

"You guys check it out, while I inspect the residence. I mean it, you do not enter until I say so, got it?" Vartann wanted to make sure neither of them tried to be heroes.

"Yeah," Nick said absently, "So who's already here?"

Warrick looked into the driver side window of the Yukon, he tried the door but it was locked. "Do you see anything over there? It's either Grissom's or Sara's."

Nick was looking on the passenger side, "Not Grissom, he was at the station when we left. So that leaves Sara. You think she got here before we did? She wouldn't go into a scene without backup, even she knows better than…"

Nick was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a loud splash coming from the backyard. "What the hell? Vartann, what was that?" Vartann had already entered the residence and didn't hear Warrick's question.

Nick looked at Warrick who was already heading towards the gate of the backyard with his pistol unholstered. "Well I'm the one that wanted excitement." Nick took out his weapon and proceeded to follow Warrick.

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"How much farther?" Those were the first words Grissom had spoken since Brass had put a dent in the dashboard.

"About five minutes." Brass was trying to concentrate on getting them there in one piece and didn't have time for small talk. His radio came alive and they both heard Vartann come over the speakers that he was at the residence and was going to do a walk through. This news only made them feel somewhat less anxious. Until they got the confirmation that Sara was in one piece, they were still holding their collective breaths.

Grissom nodded and continued to silently pray, _Hang on Sara, just hang on. We're almost there._

Brass pressed the gas pedal to the floorboard, he glanced at Grissom. "We'll get there Gil. She's going to be okay, pissed, but okay." Brass hoped if he said it enough times it would make it come true.

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The intense pressure on her throat made Sara gag, and water rushed into her mouth. She brought her legs up and braced them on Mr. Daniels stomach, and pushed as hard as she could with what little strength she had left. Nails clawed at her neck as she broke free, and red stained the water in front of her face. It wasn't enough, Mr. Daniels grabbed hold of the front of Sara's shirt and kept her from surfacing for much needed air.

Sara was becoming increasingly weaker by the second. _So this is how it's going to end._

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Warrick made it to the gate and looked for the sound of the splash. He saw the water rocking but nothing on the surface. Then he noticed the tint of red along with what appeared to be long brown hair underneath the water, "Oh shit…Sara." Warrick tried to unlock the gate but in his haste he couldn't seem to work it. "Screw it." He threw his weapon down and jumped the fence easily.

Nick heard Warrick but couldn't see from behind him. "Warrick man, what are you…" Nick then spotted the red water, "That can't be…" He froze for just a moment before his instincts kicked in. "Sara!" Nick was able to open the gate and quickly followed on Warrick's heels. He could see there were two people underwater and there was some type of struggle going on.

Neither man thought twice as they dove into the deep end of the pool.

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Brass locked up the brakes as he almost missed the address. Grissom was out of the car before the vehicle had fully come to a stop, with Brass not far behind. They had made it to the driveway when they heard a series of splashes coming from the backyard.

They took off running for the side of the house.

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Sara saw the water explode behind them. She weakly turned her head and saw a dark shape, then another, surging toward them in a stream of bubbles. Strong hands wrenched her out of Mr. Daniel's death grip, while another pair pushed Mr. Daniels further into the deep end. Sara no longer had the strength to kick. She felt herself begin to sink to the bottom of the pool, then a set of arms grabbed her around the waist and kicked towards the surface, where the much needed air was.

She was only half aware of being dragged out of the pool, of being stretched out on the concrete. She was coughing and gagging violently as she fought to get air past her swollen throat. She thought she heard Warrick's voice talking to her, trying to calm her down, but she couldn't quite get her bearings enough to make out a single word that was being said. She curled in on herself as her coughing intensified.

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Grissom and Brass made it to the gate in time to see Warrick drag Sara out of the pool and lay her down on the concrete. At first she wasn't moving, then she started coughing up the water that had accumulated in her lungs. But in those few seconds of not knowing, Grissom had lost a good fifteen years off his life. He ran straight to Sara's side.

Brass ran to the side of the pool to see if he could help Nick with their suspect. Mr. Daniels was unconscious and Nick and Vartann were trying to get him out of the pool to administer CPR. He had attempted to attack Nick and had blacked out from the lack of oxygen. Brass focused his attentions on Sara as paramedics ran past him trying to help get Mr. Daniels out of the water.

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Sara was beginning to think she was never going to get enough air when she was lifted gently into a sitting position supported by a pair of trembling arms. "Shh…take it easy, don't panic," the voice said. "Breathe easy, you can do it, don't fight it, just take slow breaths. That's it honey, nice and easy."

Sara concentrated on the voice, trying to do exactly as it told her too. She could feel her pulse calming down and her throat relax. She turned her head and locked eyes with Grissom. His face was ashen but there was an underlying current of relief in his eyes. She closed her eyes and weakly laid her head on his chest. "I'm okay," she whispered hoarsely.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

_AN: I really do apologize for the long wait between updates but I've been having problems with migraine headaches for the past year and I just now seem to have them under control with medication. So, I want to thank everyone who is still reading this._

Disclaimer: I own nothing, no really…nothing.

Chapter 12

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Sara concentrated on his voice. Once she let herself relax her throat released and oxygen rushed past her swollen larynx. She weakly laid her head against Grissom's chest and gripped his hand loosely to let him know she was conscious.

Warrick and Nick were still in the water moving Mr. Daniels closer to the shallow end of the pool so the police could pull his waterlogged body out.

Grissom was trying to stop his shaking, "Why didn't you answer the goddamn phone?! I couldn't get here in time, I almost lost you!"

Sara gasped out, "I dropped my phone, I was picking it up when he attacked me." She grabbed her aching ribs.

Grissom noticed how pale she was and hugged her tighter to him, trying to be mindful of her injuries. He didn't loosen his grip as paramedics approached to look Sara over.

"Sir, we need to check her out, I'll need you to step back for a minute." As Grissom let go, Sara began to protest, "No…wait…Grissom!" She was attempting to scream but it came out as more of a croak.

Grissom pushed the paramedics out of his way, not caring what they thought and bent down to look into her frantic eyes, "What is it?"

Sara tried to take a deep breath, but only ended up coughing, which in turn aggravated her already swollen throat, "Mr. Daniels…he…he…" Sara swallowed, "He….killed…Mel…Melissa." She said between coughs.

Grissom stroked her hair, "I know honey, and I'll explain it all to you later. First, I want you to get checked out."

Sara started to protest and Grissom put a finger to her lips, "I promise, I'll tell you all about it later." Sara nodded her head, as the paramedics moved towards her, Grissom could clearly see the floating body of Mr. Jeff Daniels. _It's a good thing he's already dead, I don't know if I would be able to restrain myself. Bastard._ Grissom was brought out of his musings by Sara's weak argument with the paramedics about having to go to the hospital to get checked out.

"Ms. Sidle, we really need to transport you to Desert Palms to make sure there's no permanent damage."

"But I'm fine, I just need a minute," Sara tried in vain to change their minds.

Grissom shook his head no and glared at her, "Sara, you're going if I have to throw you over my shoulder and physically put you in that ambulance."

Sara tried to glare at Grissom but it wasn't very convincing when another coughing fit overtook her. Defeated, she finally acquiesced.

The paramedics gingerly helped her up and steered her towards the awaiting emergency lights. She turned to glance at Grissom over her shoulder and could see the look of pure rage on his face as he watched the police pull the dead body of Jeff Daniels out. He turned towards her and that look was immediately replaced with one of relief. "I'll follow you with Brass, okay?"

She nodded and never broke eye contact with him as she was pulled into the ambulance and the doors shut.

Brass clamped his hand on Grissom's shoulder, "Come on buddy, let's go."

It took Grissom a minute to realize Brass had spoken, "We were almost too late, if Warrick and Nick hadn't gotten here…"

Brass interrupted him, "Now, isn't the time to dwell on what might have been, she's here and she's alive, maybe a little worse for wear, but she's here. You need to remember that. Come on, I know a certain brunette who would like some answers." Brass said as he walked away, "Oh, and for the love of god, don't screw this up."

"I don't intend too," Grissom remarked as he headed towards Brass' vehicle with one thing on his mind. Getting to Sara.

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Grissom was sick to his stomach as he leaned against the wall outside of the observation cubicle at the hospital. He hadn't been able to protect the one person he loved more than anything. Until the day he died, he would never forget the feeling of helplessness as he and Brass raced through the streets, knowing he could already be too late. Nick and Warrick occupied two of the plastic chairs opposite him in the hallway. They were still in there wet clothes from jumping into the pool. Both men eyed their boss with concern. Neither of them knew just how much Gil Grissom could feel, but were faced head on with it, and they didn't know what to do or say to reassure him that Sara would be okay.

Brass walked up and handed Grissom a cup of coffee, "It's not good, but at least it's something."

Grissom took a sip and felt the bile slosh around in his stomach. He fought to keep it from rising, and took another sip to stamp it down.

Brass leaned on the wall beside Grissom, "Jesus, what a nightmare. I thought Sara's injuries were minor, what the hell is taking so long?"

Warrick spoke first, "They're checking out Sara's throat, apparently because she was alert and talking she wasn't considered a priority."

"That's bullshit." Nick mumbled.

"I doubt Sara would want someone with more serious injuries than herself not being seen first, she wouldn't want the rules bent for her." Grissom spoke to his cup of coffee.

Nick shook his head, "Well, that might be true, but she's not the one sitting out here worrying." Nick ran his hands down his face, "When we saw the struggle under the water, man, I…" Nick trailed off.

Warrick patted Nick on the shoulder, "I know. Brass, if it hadn't been for your all points bulletin, this could have ended up differently."

Brass wasn't taking any of the credit, "Personally I think you guys did a helluva job, but I'm just a detective, what the fuck do I know."

The E.R. doctor chose this moment to finally walk out of Sara's curtained cubicle and was immediately met with four sets of worried eyes. He put a hand up to stop any questions that he knew he was about to be bombarded with. "We're going to keep her overnight, just as a precaution. Her throat is bruised and swollen, and there are abrasions to her neck where the camera strap was placed. Luckily, her larynx isn't ruptured and the hyoid bone is intact, so I believe Ms. Sidle will make a full recovery. She put up one hell of a fight"

Grissom spoke first, "Can I see her now?"

The doctor smiled, "Sure, you all can see her, but just for a bit, they'll be admitting here shortly."

Grissom had already pushed past the doctor towards Sara. She was sitting on a papered examination table. Her face relaxed with relief when she saw him, and though she didn't say a word, her expression and her eyes said enough. Grissom stood frozen for a moment just taking her in, the same mantra repeating over and over in his head. _She's okay. She's okay._ Sara reached her hand out to him. Gently he took it in his, and she used it to pull him closer to her. He folded her in his arms, thanking any and all Gods that she was alive. He kissed the top of her damp hair. He felt a tremble but wasn't sure whether it was her or him.

Sara mumbled into his shirt, "I'm okay, its okay Griss."

He pushed her back to look into her eyes, she nodded, "Really, I'm okay." She squeaked out as she pulled her hand up and stroked his face, never breaking eye contact.

Sara started when she heard a throat clear from behind Grissom, she immediately dropped her hand and tried to scoot back away from Grissom, put he held fast.

Brass broke the tension, "Hey doll, you really gave us quite a scare. I think I lost a good 15 years off my life. And trust me I don't have that many left to spare." Nick and Warrick followed Brass to the other side of the table, since they all knew they would have been taking their lives into there own hands if they tried to move Grissom out of the way.

Nick grabbed Sara's other hand, "You okay?"

She shook her head because it still hurt to talk, but she needed to say something to them no matter how bad it would smart later, "Thank you" She said while looking from Nick to Warrick.

Warrick put his hand on her knee, "No Sara, no thanks are needed, you being here is all the thanks we need. But the next time you decide to go for a swim, I'd at least like to see those long legs of yours in a bathing suit, keeping them covered up is just wrong." Warrick winked.

Sara chuckled and it started another round of coughing. The curtain moved and a nurse and an intern came into the already cramped space with a wheelchair. "You'll have to excuse us gentlemen we need to move Ms. Sidle to her room."

Grissom took over, "Okay guys, it's time to give her some space, we can see her once they move her and she's comfortable." Everyone hugged her and said they'd see her once they got her settled. Grissom was following them all out when he heard a small, strained voice behind him, "Griss?"

He turned as Sara was being loaded into the chair. He grabbed her hand again, as she was being wheeled out, the nurse was about to tell him that he needed to wait till they had her in a room as they were moving down the halls of the hospital. Grissom sensing she was about to tell him he couldn't accompany them, cut off any further conversation as his eyes never left Sara's "I'm not going anywhere."

TBC


End file.
